This paper presents a comprehensive review of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor failure physics and reliability, focusing on mechanisms affecting the gate-drain edge, where maximum electric field and peak temperatures are reached. Physical effects at the origin of device degradation (inverse piezoelectric effect, time-dependent trap formation and percolative conductive paths formation, and electrochemical AlGaN and GaN degradation) are discussed on the basis of literature data and unpublished results. Thermally activated mechanisms involving metal-metal and metal-semiconductor interdiffusion at the gate Schottky junction are also discussed.

AlGaN/GaN-Based HEMTs Failure Physics and Reliability: Mechanisms Affecting Gate Edge and Schottky Junction

This paper reviews the physical mechanisms responsible for breakdown current in AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). Through a critical comparison between experimental data and previously published results we describe the following mechanisms, which can be responsible for the increase in drain current at high drain voltage levels, in the off-state: (i) source–drain breakdown, due to punch-through effects and/or to a poor depletion of the buffer; (ii) vertical (drain-bulk) breakdown, which can be particularly prominent when the devices are grown on a silicon substrate; (iii) breakdown of the gate–drain junction, due either to surface conduction mechanisms or to conduction through the (reverse-biased) Schottky junction at the gate; (iv) impact ionization triggered by hot electrons, that may induce an increase in drain current due to the lowering of the barrier for the injection of electrons from the source.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.7567/JJAP.53.100211/pdf

Breakdown mechanisms in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs: An overview

GaN electronics constitutes a revolutionary technology with power handling capabilities that amply exceed those of Si and other semiconductors in many applications. RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave GaN-based power amplifiers are now deployed in commercial communications, radar, and sensing systems. GaN power transistors for electrical power management are also starting to reach the marketplace. From the dawn of this technology, inadequate transistor stability and reliability have represented stumbling blocks preventing widespread commercial use of GaN electronics. Intense research has been devoted to addressing these issues, and great progress has taken place recently. This article reviews some of the most interesting and significant stability and reliability issues that have plagued GaN power field-effect transistors for RF and power management applications.

/pdf/stability-and-reliability-of-lateral-gan-power-field-effect-3ctgz8k7mb.pdf

Stability and Reliability of Lateral GaN Power Field-Effect Transistors

This paper describes an extensive analysis of the role of off-state and semi-on state bias in inducing the trapping in GaN-based power High Electron Mobility Transistors. The study is based on combined pulsed characterization and on-resistance transient measurements. We demonstrate that—by changing the quiescent bias point from the off-state to the semi-on state—it is possible to separately analyze two relevant trapping mechanisms: (i) the trapping of electrons in the gate-drain access region, activated by the exposure to high drain bias in the off-state; (ii) the trapping of hot-electrons within the AlGaN barrier or the gate insulator, which occurs when the devices are operated in the semi-on state. The dependence of these two mechanisms on the bias conditions and on temperature, and the properties (activation energy and cross section) of the related traps are described in the text.

Trapping in GaN-based metal-insulator-semiconductor transistors: Role of high drain bias and hot electrons

Structural refinement, optical and ferroelectric properties of microcrystalline Ba(Zr0.05Ti0.95)O3 perovskite

AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors are gaining commercial acceptance for use in high power and high frequency applications, but the degradation mechanisms that drive failure in the field are not completely understood. Since some of these mechanisms are current or field driven, reliability studies must go beyond the typical Arrhenius-accelerated life tests. In this paper, we summarize recent work on electric field or current driven degradation in devices with different gate metallization, device dimensions, electric field mitigation techniques (such as source field plates) and the effect of device fabrication processes for both dc and RF stress conditions.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0268-1242/28/7/074019/pdf

Reliability studies of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors

An electro-mechanical simulation of the degradation of AlGaN/GaN HEMT's in the Off-state. Strain driven diffusion of impurities from the gate into the AlGaN layer increases trap density which leads to unrecoverable decreases in drain current.

An electro-mechanical simulation of off state AlGaN/GaN device degradation

Invited) Simulation of GaN Device Reliability

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Reliability studies of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors

An electro-mechanical simulation of off state AlGaN/GaN device degradation

Invited) Simulation of GaN Device Reliability