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Investigation of Leakage Current of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs Under Pinch-Off Condition by Electroluminescence Microscopy

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Results from on-wafer electroluminescence (EL) microscopy on AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors with leakage currents varying over four orders of magnitude are presented. In the off-state region the integrated EL intensity is proportional to the leakage current and independent of gate width for the devices under study. The slope of the integrated EL–leakage current dependence is determined by the electrical field in the source–drain direction. The influence of the GaN cap thickness is small or even negligible for higher drain bias. Stress during accelerated aging results in enhanced degradation for areas of enhanced leakage current and/or electric field values.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Joachim Wagner for valuable discussions and careful reading of the manuscript. The authors also acknowledge the financial support of the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Ministry of Defence (BMVg).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics, Tullastr. 72, 79108, Freiburg, Germany

    Martina Baeumler, Frank Gütle, Vladimir Polyakov, Markus Cäsar, Michael Dammann, Helmer Konstanzer, Wilfried Pletschen, Wolfgang Bronner, Rüdiger Quay, Patrick Waltereit, Michael Mikulla & Oliver Ambacher

  2. United Monolithic Semiconductors, Wilhelm-Runge-Strasse 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany

    Franck Bourgeois, Reza Behtash & Klaus J. Riepe

  3. NXP Semiconductors, Gerstweg 2, 6534 AE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Paul J. van der Wel, Jos Klappe & Thomas Rödle

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  1. Martina Baeumler
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  2. Frank Gütle
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  3. Vladimir Polyakov
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  4. Markus Cäsar
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  11. Michael Mikulla
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  12. Oliver Ambacher
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  14. Reza Behtash
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  15. Klaus J. Riepe
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  16. Paul J. van der Wel
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Correspondence to Martina Baeumler.

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Baeumler, M., Gütle, F., Polyakov, V. et al. Investigation of Leakage Current of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs Under Pinch-Off Condition by Electroluminescence Microscopy. J. Electron. Mater. 39, 756–760 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-010-1120-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-010-1120-9

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