Thermal boundary resistance between GaN and substrate in AlGaN/GaN electronic devices

The influence of a thermal boundary resistance (TBR) on temperature distribution in ungated AlGaN/GaN field-effect devices was investigated using 3-D micro-Raman thermography. The temperature distribution in operating AlGaN/GaN devices on SiC, sapphire, and Si substrates was used to determine values for the TBR by comparing experimental results to finite-difference thermal simulations. While the measured TBR of about 3.3 x 10(-8) W-1 center dot m(2) center dot K for devices on SiC and Si substrates has a sizeable effect on the self-heating in devices, the TBR of up to 1.2 x 10(-7) W-1 center dot m(2) center dot K plays an insignificant role in devices on sapphire substrates due to the low thermal conductivity of the substrate. The determined effective TBR was found to increase with temperature at the GaN/SiC interface from 3.3 x 10(-8) W-1 center dot m(2) center dot K at 150 degrees C to 6.5 x 10(-8) W-1 center dot m(2) center dot K at 275 degrees C, respectively. The contribution of a low-thermal-conductivity GaN layer at the GaN/substrate interface toward the effective TBR in devices and its temperature dependence are also discussed.