Suppression of self-heating effect in AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors by substrate-transfer technology using h-BN

We fabricated AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on h-BN/sapphire substrates and transferred them from the host substrates to copper plates using h-BN as a release layer. In current-voltage characteristics, the saturation drain current decreased by about 30% under a high-bias condition before release by self-heating effect. In contrast, after transfer, the current decrement was as small as 8% owing to improved heat dissipation: the device temperature increased to 50 degrees C in the as-prepared HEMT, but only by several degrees in the transferred HEMT. An effective way to improve AlGaN/GaN HEMT performance by a suppression of self-heating effect has been demonstrated. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.