Impact of undoped channel thickness and carbon concentration on AlN/GaN-on-SiC HEMT performances

We report on a vertically scaled AlN/GaN high electron mobility transistor technology design optimization for millimeter-wave applications. The undoped GaN channel thickness and carbon concentration into the buffer are extensively varied and systematically characterized. It is found that a thin GaN channel, typically below 150 nm improves the electron confinement, but increases the trapping effects, especially when using shorter gate lengths. Moreover, high carbon concentration into the buffer enables not only high electron confinement but also low leakage current under a high electric field at the expense of trapping effects. As a result, the optimum epi-design enabled state-of-the-art RF performances at 40 GHz.

Automated summary

This article reports on the design optimization of vertically scaled AlN/GaN high electron mobility transistor technology for millimeter-wave applications. The thickness of the undoped GaN channel and the carbon concentration in the buffer were extensively varied and systematically characterized. It was found that a thin GaN channel improves electron confinement but increases trapping effects, especially with shorter gate lengths. Moreover, high carbon concentration in the buffer enables high electron confinement and low leakage current under high electric field, at the expense of trapping effects.