Reliability of large periphery GaN-on-Si HFETs

GaN devices exhibit excellent potential for use in many RF applications. However, commercial acceptance of the technology has been hindered by the scarcity and non-statistical nature of reliability results. In this work we present a full device level reliability study of GaN-on-Si HFETs. Reliability results on this technology include three-temperature DC data that show an activation energy of 1.7 eV and an average failure time > 10(7) h at 150 degrees C. Additionally, long duration DC lifetest (30000 device hours) and RF lifetest (4000 device hours) results demonstrate a repeatable low drift process. Environmental tests such as autoclave and ESD demonstrate the ruggedness of the material system and technology. Finally, initial failure analysis is discussed. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.