Degradation mechanisms of Schottky p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs under high-temperature reverse bias stress

doi:10.1088/1674-1056/ade1c0

Abstract The degradation mechanisms of Schottky p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs under high-temperature reverse bias (HTRB) stress were investigated and the evolution of the deep traps was identified using deep-level transient spectroscopy. The saturation current of p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs decreased by 18.2% and the threshold voltage shifted positively by 11.6% after the degradation. An electron trap (at 369 K) and a hole trap (at 95 K) were observed in the AlGaN/GaN region, while another hole trap (at 359 K) was found in the p-GaN layer before the stress. Meanwhile, after the stress, the concentration and capture cross section of the hole traps increased in both the p-GaN layer and the AlGaN/GaN region. With regard to the electron trap in the AlGaN/GaN region, the capture cross section increased significantly but the electron trap concentration slightly decreased, which may increase the electron trapping, thereby reducing electrons in the two-dimensional electron gas. These factors result in a positive shift in the threshold voltage and a decrease in the output current. This work provides a new insight into understanding the threshold voltage instability of Schottky p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.

Keywords: semiconductor devices III–V semiconductors impurity defects

Received: 05 February 2025
Revised: 04 June 2025
Accepted manuscript online: 06 June 2025

PACS:	85.30.-z	(Semiconductor devices)
	73.61.Ey	(III-V semiconductors)
	71.55.-i	(Impurity and defect levels)

Fund: Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 12374395) and the Chinese Institute of Electronics (CIE)-SmartChip Research Project.

Corresponding Authors: Chengbing Pan, Lixia Zhao
E-mail: cbpan@tiangong.edu.cn;lxzhao@tiangong.edu.cn

Cite this article:

Fei Hu(胡飞), Chengbing Pan(潘成兵), Xinyuan Zheng(郑鑫源), Yibo Ning(宁一博), Xueyan Li(李雪燕), and Lixia Zhao(赵丽霞) Degradation mechanisms of Schottky p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs under high-temperature reverse bias stress 2025 Chin. Phys. B 34 118501

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Degradation mechanisms of Schottky p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs under high-temperature reverse bias stress

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