Influence of AlN passivation on thermal performance of AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors on sapphire substrate: A simulation study

Murugapandiyan, P., Nirmal, D., Tanvir Hasan, Md., Varghese, Arathy, Ajayan, J., Augustine Fletcher, A.S. and Ramkumar, N. 2021. Influence of AlN passivation on thermal performance of AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors on sapphire substrate: A simulation study. Materials Science and Engineering: B 273 , 115449. 10.1016/j.mseb.2021.115449

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Abstract

This work describes the self-heating effects on the behavior of AlGaN/GaN-based high-electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs), which are grownon Sapphire substrate, using electro-thermal TCAD simulations. The proposed device, passivated with AlN/SiN, demonstrates more excellent thermal performance than the conventional one with SiN passivation due to the introduction of additional AlN on top of the device, which acts as a heat spreader. The electro-thermal simulations have carried out for different AlN thicknesses (0 µm to 25 µm), and the device with 5 µm AlN shows better performance compared to others. The proposed AlN/SiN stacked passivation HEMT shows a comparatively small lattice temperature of 418 K, whereas the conventional HEMT with SiN passivation shows 578 K. All the devices (gate length, LG = 1 µm) switch from OFF- to ON-states using the voltage, VGS from −10 V to 0 V with fixed bias, VDS = 5 V. The values of saturation drain current density (IDSS) and transconductance (gm) are 0.7 A/mm and 173 mS/mm for the proposed HEMT with 5 µm AlN considering the thermal simulation model. In contrast, the conventional device demonstrates those of 0.42 A/mm and 109 mS/mm, respectively. The ∼ 0.32 A/mm of drain current recover for the proposed device with 5 µm AlN from a conventional device because of the reduction of self-heating effects. Our study reveals that the AlN/SiN passivation HEMTs are a promising technology for high-power switching and microwave applications without significant reduction in device performance at high drain bias.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Engineering
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0921-5107
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	11 October 2021
Date of Acceptance:	4 September 2021
Last Modified:	06 Jan 2024 16:53
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/144624

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