Accepted Manuscript

A survey of Gallium Nitrate HEMT for RF and high power applications

A.S. Augustine Fletcher, Assistant Professor, D. Nirmal, Assistant Professor

PII: S0749-6036(17)31212-0
DOI: 10.1016/j.spmi.2017.05.042
Reference: YSPMI 5023

To appear in: Superlattices and Microstructures

Received Date: 17 May 2017

Accepted Date: 19 May 2017

Please cite this article as: A.S.A. Fletcher, D. Nirmal, A survey of Gallium Nitrate HEMT for RF and high
power applications, Superlattices and Microstructures (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.spmi.2017.05.042.

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

A Survey of Gallium Nitrate HEMT for RF and High Power

Applications
A.S.Augustine Fletchera, D.Nirmalb.
a
Assistant Professor,ECE Dept,Karunya University,Coimbatore-641114, India
b
Associate Professor, ECE Dept,Karunya University,Coimbatore-641114, India

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Abstract
This paper furnishes a Comprehensive study about an emerging GaN HEMT technology
suitable for RF and high power applications. It plays a vital role in Wireless communication, radars,

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guided missiles, and the power amplifiers in satellite communication system. Over the few decades
different HEMT device structures were adopted to improve the current density and frequency
performance. But it was found that AlN/GaN based HEMTs were superior in offering highest drain

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current of 4A, high 2DEG charge density (ns) of 6 × 1013 cm−2, highest cutoff frequency of 2.02
THZ, while preserving breakdown voltages. It is because of AlN material exhibiting higher
spontaneous polarization effect and large band gap energy of 6.2 eV contrast to Gallium Nitrate
band gap of (3.42 eV). Also, it achieves large device breakdown voltages of 2.3 kV with the help of

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ultra thin barrier and partial removal of local substrate. In this paper, a performance comparison
between AlGaN/GaN and AlN/GaN HEMT devices were shown in detail. Different effects such as
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polarization, parasitic, passivation, field plate and back barrier influencing the RF and DC
characteristics of Gallium Nitrate based HEMTs are also included in this review. It also presents the
challenges for GaN HEMT development and the issues in conventional device's technology.
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Keywords: HEMT; Trap; Field plate; 2DEG; Polarization.

1. Introduction
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Gallium Nitrate HEMTs are well suited for RF and high power applications due to its
distinctive characteristics of wide band gap. Larger band gap of GaN yields higher breakdown field
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and drain current [1- 4], which makes the device to be a promising candidate for MMICs and RF
amplifiers. The growth of HEMT took a decade of years. The motion of free charge carriers in
HEMT [5] was examined for the first time in 1969. During 1980, [6] the first RF device model was
made available for projects. It came to use from that year onwards with the trade off of the initial
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high cost. So the usage of HEMT was significantly limited at that time. Now with their cost
somewhat less, it was used commonly in RF applications such as radio astronomy, radar, direct
broadcast receivers, and cellular telecommunications. It is suitable for the RF applications which
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demand a combo of high frequency, low noise and high power operation. HEMT may be available
as discrete transistors, but recently it was commonly engulfed into compact chips. These integrated
circuits are MMIC’s, commonly used to design RF circuit models where a high level of
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performance is required. HBTs and HEMTs are excellent candidates for next generation high power
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applications. E. J. Lum briefs the advantage of HEMTs and HBTs [7] exhibiting three times higher
power densities than MESFETs which ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
in turn reduces the chip area. To intensify the frequency of
operation in HEMT, several designs were proposed. AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs having the gain current
cut off frequency fT= 110 GHZ, Recently GaAs based HEMT achieved [8] corner frequency of
fT=664 GHZ with a maximal frequency of 924 GHZ, Furthermore InP based HEMT [9] achieved
higher corner frequency of 610 GHZ with recording maximal frequency of 1.5 THZ. But GaAs and
InP based HEMT device offers very low breakdown voltage. Hence it will be suitable only for low
voltage, high frequency [10-11] applications. Comparatively GaN based HEMT devices has a
superior DC and RF performance over conventional GaAs and InP based HEMTs. The unique
attribute of GaN material was a wide energy band gap yielding [12-13] large break down voltage
with maximum operating temperature. [14] The piezoelectric field was developed mainly because
of huge lattice differences between GaN and AlN. Jointly with the huge conduction band counteract
and spontaneous polarization effect achieves a larger 2DEG density (ns) of 6 × 1013 cm−2. The

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efficient character of the AlGaN / GaN device was well understood soon and hence the attention of
researchers turned towards AlGaN/GaN HEMTs than AlGaAs/GaAs devices. To enhance the
device operation further, various optimization methods were adopted. The field-plates improve

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device DC characteristics by reducing the spike currents developed near the gate region. Hence, the
device breakdown field strength can be extended beyond. Another way to optimize the device
structure [15], by sandwiching a thin AlN barrier layer between AlGaN and GaN channel. It raises

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the conduction band counteract and electron sheet charge density and reduces the alloy dislocate
dispersion, resulting improved mobility. It also increases the device operating frequency.
Additionally, double hetero junction structures give hope to improve the 2DEG density further.

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2. Background of High Electron Mobility Transistor
HEMT devices available with different structures (InP, GaAs, GaN) due to the development
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made year by year to improve the RF and DC performance. HEMT has a special character of
forming two dimensional electron gas where the carrier mobility was extremely excessive [16-17].
It was made with hetero structures (ie different material used with different band gap). So the buffer
layer will be used [18-19] to fix the lattice mismatch between two crystal structures. HEMT device
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will be passivated to i) reduce gate leakage current and noise ii) improve the drain current. Field
plate techniques are applied in HEMT devices to enhance the breakdown field strength. It will
eliminate the spike currents in the device by distributing the electric field uniformly across the
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device scale. Nowadays Air bridge field plates are also used to magnify the breakdown field
strength of high electron mobility transistors further. The HEMT devices are very essential for
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diverse applications such as Wireless communication, radars, guided missiles, and the power
amplifiers in satellite communication system. It was also available as MMICs.

2.1 Polarization Effect

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AlGaN/GaN HEMT has a special significant character, which creates two dimensional
electron gases without doping process. This attribute is mainly because of spontaneous polarization
and the piezoelectric properties [20] found in III-nitrides as shown in Fig 1. These characteristics
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depend on the crystal structures of III nitrides. Due to high tendency of an atom to attract a bonding
pair of electrons between the III elements (Al, Ga, and In) and N, the atoms are tetrahedrally
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bonded, in which each atom are bonded to four different atoms. The crystal structure of III-nitrides
results in spontaneous polarization (PSP) [21-25]. This is due to the strong electro negativity
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difference from the nitrogen and metal, which affects the spontaneous polarization. Epitaxially GaN
layer was grown normal to (0001) ACCEPTED
surface and MANUSCRIPT
has lack of inversion symmetry. This results
spontaneous polarization in exist in the <0001>direction.

Fig. 1 Spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization of AlGaN/GaN HEMT

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The second polarization field is piezoelectric polarization (PPE) from the strain in the
epitaxial layers. Piezoelectric polarization originates from mechanical deformation and lack of
symmetry. In AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, the AlGaN layer was very thin when compared with the
thickness of GAN layer. Now the GaN layer was assumed to be calm without having any

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polarization effect. The stress is applied to the AlGaN layer because when AlGaN is grown over
GaN layer, the lattice constant of GaN and AlGaN should be made equal. These stresses results in
piezoelectric polarization. The piezoelectric polarization field can be expressed:

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e33 c13
PPE = 2ε a (e31 − ) ... (1)
c33

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The intensity of piezoelectric polarization field given in equation (1) was directly proportional to
lattice constants (εa ) and piezoelectric coefficients (e13, e31, e33) of AlGaN and GaN materials. [26] A
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hetero interface between the AlGaN and GaN layer will induce a discontinuity in the polarization. .
Equation (2) shows the net polarization effect caused by AlGaN/GaN layers. AlGaN exhibits
positive spontaneous (PSP) and piezoelectric polarization (PPE) effects, GaN exhibits negative
polarization field at the interface.
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σ = ( PSP, AlGaN + PPE , AlGaN ) − PSP,GaN [16] ... (2)

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This indicates that there will be a permanent fixed polarization 2DEG created [27] at the joining
layer of GaN/ AlGaN. Since the spontaneous polarization in AlGaN is greater compared to GaN,
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the bound charges at the AlGaN/GaN interface will be positive.

2.2 Generation of 2D-Electron Gas

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Fig.2 shows the energy band structure of AlGaN/GaN HEMT. The conduction path was
created in the joining layer of AlGaN/GaN owing to polarization effect. The polarization difference
in the interface regions causes positive net charge and the conduction band was pulled downward.
More positive sheet charge density attracts the electrons and become cramped into the triangular
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shaped potential well. The polarization moves net negative charges at the plane and the conduction
band surface is dragged upwards. These electrons are cramped [26], creating 2DEG at the GaN
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channel. The two dimensional gas transport concentration (ns) can be described:
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
σ   ε ε 
ns =  int  −  2 0 r (qφb + E F − ∇EC ) [26] ... (3)
 q   q t AlGaN 

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Fig.2. Energy band level of AlGaN/GaN HEMT

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Where ∆ Ec is the energy level difference between AlGaN and GaN, EF is the Fermi energy level
with respect to the GaN conduction band, q Øb is the gate contact Schottky-Barrier height which
influences the threshold voltage of the device. εr is the dielectric constant of AlGaN which

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influences the breakdown field strength. tAlGaN is the thickness of the AlGaN layer, q is the charge of
an electron, σint is the AlGaN/GaN HEMT sheet charge at the interface layer. The 2DEG sheet
charge density (ns) expressed in equation (3) has a direct relation to polarization effect (σ). AlGaN
and GaN materials having different band gap energy, causing (). This is because of lattice mismatch

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between two materials. And [28] for HEMTs, it utilizes a hetero structure to create a potential well
for electrons to move freely in two dimensions, forming a 2DEG. Table 1 given below shows the
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material properties of High Electron Mobility Transistor.

Table 1 Material Properties of HEMT

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Si GaN AlN InN

GaAs Sic

Bandgap (eV) 1.12 3.4 6.2 0.9

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1.42 3.26
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Dielectric
11.8 8.9 8.5 15.3
Constant (ϵr) 13.1 -

Electron mobility
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1350 440 300 70 – 250

µe (cm2/Vs) 8500 720

Breakdown
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0.3 3 11 Low 0.4 3

field(Mv/cm)
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Thermal conductivity 1.5 1.3 - - 0.5 4.9

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(W/cm k)
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MANUSCRIPT
7 8
Velocity (cm/s) 1×10 2×10 - 2×10 2×107 -

Lattice constant (Ǻ) 5.43 3.19 3.11 3.53 5.65 3.08

3. Diverse HEMT Devices

Broadly HEMTs [29] are classified as lattice-matched HEMTs and pseudomorphic HEMTs.
Different flavors of HEMT devices are available with different substrates. GaAs based devices are
AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs and GaAs-based pseudomorphic HEMTs are AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs
HEMTs. The classic device based on InP substrate is AlInAs/GaInAs/InP HEMTs and InP based

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pseudomorphic device available as AlInAs/GaInAs/InPHEMTs. Earlier HEMTs used buffers
between every layer simply to ensure the lattice constant of each layer are almost close to each other
to avoid the dislocation in the crystal structure. On the other side, Pseudomorphic HEMTs were
designed with different lattice constants for few layers, but not a wide difference. As the thickness

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of the dissimilar layer was less than a significant level, the growth of high quality layer becomes
easy. Fig 3 shows the first matched lattice constant GaAs based HEMT [6] with maximum drain
current of 20 µA. However, the device yields very low drain current when compared with current

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HEMT device's technology. Then the current density of the HEMT’s was improved by including a
barrier layer between the substrate and channel. The barrier layer InGaAs was placed between
AlGaAs Spacer layer and GaAs buffer layer. Hence a pseudomorphic HEMT was developed on
semi insulating Gallium Aresenide substrate. It is also called to be a Single Heterojunction

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pseudomorphic HEMT (SH-pHEMT) as shown in Fig.4. Additionally, the improvement of a double
hetero junction pseudomorphic HEMT was much needed for high power applications. Toshihide
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Kikkawa [30] proved AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs HEMT device results better k factor of 480
mA/V2/mm than AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs having k factor of 418 mA/V2/mm. Yeong-Lin Lai [31],
showed that AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs HEMT device results maximum drain current of 265 mA which
was better than conventional AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT device drain current.
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Fig.3 AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT structure [32]

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Fig.4 shows the GaAs-based DH-pHEMT improved the power performance compared to previous
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HEMT technology. GaAs substrates are used mostly commonly to design such devices. Another
option to develop such HEMTs is based on Indium phosphide substrates. Fig. 3 shows Indium
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phosphide HEMTs [32] are manufactured using InGaAs channel, InP substrate and two InAlAs
barrier layer. The performance ofACCEPTED
lattice matchedMANUSCRIPT
HEMTs and InP-based pHEMTs seem to be
similar but GaAs-based pHEMTs [33] having superior performance over lattice matched GaAs
based HEMT. It was found that GaAs-based pHEMTs exhibits high power output capability and
Power Added Efficiency as high as 68%. The self heating effect is the major issue found with
AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs. This is due to the poor property of GaAs to conduct heat [34], which
significantly limits the HBT performance and deforms its I-V response with respect to junction
temperature. The current gain, current density and the cutoff frequency were degraded due to self-
heating effect. Then a significant improvement in drain current has been achieved by adopting multi
fingers [35] in the HBT’s. But the increase in device temperature causes the destructive result of the
device called thermal runaway. So the researchers focussed on two areas to solve this issue 1)
various materials with different dimensions 2) heat removal and advanced heat absorbing devices.
The Merits of Indium phosphide based HEMT devices are high breakdown voltage, high electron

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velocity, reduced thermal resistance, large cutoffs and maximum frequency than Gallium arsenide
based HEMTs. These features make indium phosphide to be superior to GaAs for optical and
millimeter wave applications.

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Fig.4 AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs HEMT structure [36]

Fig 5 shows the structure of InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT fabricated on InP substrate. InP based
HEMTs [37-38] has an advantage of higher cutoff frequency, high gain with low noise figure than
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GaAs devices. InP HEMT [39] exhibits more than 100 GHZ of cutoff frequency and maximum
frequencies than Gallium arsenide hetero structures with low NF of 1 dB. Each stage of InP
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amplifier provides a gain of 50 % higher and the dissipation of power 33% lower than gallium
arsenide based amplifiers. X Mei. Reports [9] highest corner frequency of 800 GHZ and maximal
frequency of 1.5 THZ with low breakdown field. Though InP based HEMT devices has many
advantages, it has the problem of low breakdown voltage [40], low current density and
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compromising the performance with improved power added efficiency [41]. The stability problem
of HEMTs and HBTs on InP substrate were presented in this article [42]. Hughes reports [43] that
SiGe based HEMT will be a future technology for millimeter-wave applications. Because this
device provides an improved thermal conductivity than GaAs.
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

Fig.5 InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT structure [44]

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It summarizes that SiGe and GaAs will fight each other for RF low noise and power amplifier
applications. And it will be the future dominating technology [45] for RFIC products. But, during
the formation of 2D- Electron gas at the junction of AlGaN/GaN HEMT’s, the resulting mobility

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(2000 cm2/Vs) was superior than bulk GaN and SiC [46] because of decreased dispersion and its
2DEG sheet charge concept. This attribute makes AlGaN/GaN device attractive for RF and high
power applications.

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Fig.6 AlGaN/GaN HEMT device [47]

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Fig.6 shows a popular AlGaN/GaN HEMT device [47] manufactured over a silicon substrate with
transition layers. The 2DEG sheet charge density of this device is very high 2.7 x 1013 cm−2, because
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of its spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization effects. The 2DEG value reported [48] above is
12 times better than AlGaAs/GaAs and Inp based HEMT devices. Also the drain current densities
reached up to 2A with a high cutoff frequency and maximum frequency reported as 150/210 GHZ
using metal oxide chemical vapor deposition regrown [49] as ohmic contact with gate length of 6
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nm. Using the gate recess method and n+ -GaN ohmic contact regrowth, the tansconductance was
raised from 607 to 764 ms/mm and [50] recorded as the highest transconductance value of the
device to the date. Nicholas herbecq [51] demonstrates highest ever breakdown field of 3 kV for
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AlGaN/GaN based HEMT by partial removal of the silicon substrate to suppress the parasitic
conduction of substrate. Due to scaling AlGaN/GaN device to 20 nm and using T-shaped self
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aligned gate at the top [52], it is possible to create a technical breakthrough achieving high corner
frequency of 400 GHZ and maximal frequency of 550 GHZ. The AlGaN/GaN HEMT [53]
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recorded a maximum cutoff frequency of 2.24 THZ with very low breakdown voltage..ON
resistance is another aspect whichACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
influences the device performance significantly. In high speed
switching application, the HEMT device has to respond immediately. This can be possible by
reducing gate drain lag. Lower RON of device exhibits low gate drain lag and reduces the trap effect.
By using AlGaN material as a back barrier for AlGaN/GaN HEMT achieves extremely low ON
resistance of 0.39 mΩ.cm2 reported in [54]. This attribute makes this device suitable for MMIC
power amplifier, 5G hand phones and mm wave applications. By comparing the performance of
GaN HEMT with GaAs and InP based HEMT, it is very clear that GaN based HEMT stands
superior benefits high power and high frequency capabilities than GaAs and InP. GaAs and InP
devices were limited to low power operation not applicable for radio frequency with high-power
switching applications because of several demerits like low thermal conductivity, narrow band gap
and high substrate costs.

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Fig.7 AlN/GaN HEMT structure [55]

AlGaN/GaN based HEMTs can deliver a favorable power, frequency, RON, break down field over

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the limitation of silicon and silicon carbide based semiconductors preferred presently for [56] RF
power switching applications. But in order to intensify the frequency of operation, need to minimize
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the AlGaN barrier layer thickness which in turn increases short channel effect. To overcome this
AlN/GaN HEMTs are preferred as shown in Fig.7. It has a superior performance yielding large (ns)
2DEG charge density of 6 × 1013 cm−2. It is because of AlN material exhibiting higher spontaneous
polarization value along with large band gap of 6.2 eV contrast to Gallium Nitrate (3.42 eV). It is
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proven [55] that the usage of AlN/GaN barrier layer instead of the AlGaN barrier provides large
sheet charge transport and high drain current densities of 2.3A/mm. To increase the frequency of
operation, the AlN barrier layer can be reduced further below 10 nm. K.Sinohara reports [57]
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highest drain current > 4 A for AlN/GaN HEMT with self aligned gate and heavily doped ohmic
contact. Yan Tang reports [58] AlN/GaN/AlGaN HEMT device yields fT and fMAX of 454 GHZ and
444 GHZ. Keisuke Shinohara [53] presents the maximum frequency of 600 GHZ for AlN/GaN
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HEMT by scaling down device to 20 nm and incorporating a self aligned gate process with lateral
schottky contact. To enhance the frequency of operation, the 2DEG/metal Schottky contacts were
incorporated with ohmic contacts [53] using the scaling down technique of self aligned AlN/GaN
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HEMT records very high cutoff frequency of 2.02 THZ while maintaining the high breakdown
electric field exceeding 18 V. Also, the AlN/GaN HEMT device achieves higher breakdown
voltages above 2000 V with lower ON-resistance using thin barrier layer of AlN and partial removal
of substrate to suppress the parasitic silicon substrate conduction. Acquiring tiny RON instantly [59]
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after switching from a high VOFF to low VON is an ideal demand for high power applications.
Gallium nitrate based HEMTs [60] used for RF power applications has a problem of dynamic
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switching occurs on the account of current collapse, drain and gate delay effects. It degrades the
power performance of HEMT. Though Aluminium nitrate has a high polarization effect yielding
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high power and high frequency of operation, still it has the problem of charge trapping which
affects the stability of the device. ACCEPTED
So reducing the MANUSCRIPT
charge trapping in AlN/GaN HEMT will be the
challenge for the current researchers to improve the quality of HEMT device.

4. Factors Influencing GaN HEMT Performance

4.1 Parasitic Effects

The recoverable effects can influence the static and dynamic performances of untreated
devices. During ON condition, it degrades the active characteristics of the device with respect to
time and stress conditions. These effects are called parasitic effects [61] or trapping effects, induced

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due to generation of available energy-states in the semiconductor energy-gap, which appears as
traps for holes or electrons coming from the channel and from the gate contact. These [62] traps are
usually related to crystal irregularities, atom dislocated or impurity presence inside each layer of the
GaN-HEMT structure. This type of trap can be eliminated by applying operative electric field. Due

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to trapping and detrapping mechanism, the device will face deep degradation in its performance.
Two important parasitic effects [63] namely the kink effect and the current collapse effect. The kink
effect is a sedate trapping effect that causes a degradation of the drain current at low drain bias. This

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effect [34] is developed at low Vds and vanished at high drain to source voltages, resulting pinch-off
voltage pushed towards more negative voltages and in a sudden rise of the drain current. This
Imbalance DC output characteristic affects other major parameters like ON resistance (Ron) and
transconductance (Gm). The presence of the trap at the upper part of the band gap is the acceptor.

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Traps at the lower part of the band gap are donors. Traps occur either at the joints or at the top of a
device plays vital role in the device function and performance. The traps are filled up for thin
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AlGaN barrier layer due to the surface trap level is kept below the Fermi level. Narrow barrier layer
causes traps [41] at the surface region and it was pushed into the channel by powerful polarization
effect in AlGaN. The relationship between emission rate and VD on VGS = 0 V can be extracted [64]
by utilizing these three equations (4), (5), (6). First of all, consider that the emission is a random
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temperature enabled process; the trap level emission rate can be given by Arrhenius equation:

 E  ....(4)
e = AT 2 exp − F 
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 kT 

Where, T is the temperature, k- Boltzmann constant, EF – Fermi energy level, The high electric
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field causes decrease in barrier (β) with respect to the square root of the applied electric field (F) as
shown in equation (5).
1/ 2
 q3 
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∆φ PF =   F =β F ....(5)
π 

Where, q is a unit charge of an electron and ε is the dielectric constant. Third, the ionization energy
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as a function of a field can be written as:

E i ( F ) = E i (0 ) − β F
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[64] ....(6)
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Where, ∆EC is the energy level counteract between GaN and AlGaN, and EFi is the difference
between GaN conduction band edge ACCEPTED
and Fermi levelMANUSCRIPT
at the AlGaN/GaN joint. ΦB is the barrier
height at the AlGaN surface influencing the threshold voltage of a device. The trapped charge
occurs near the surface of AlGaN layer results the channel depletion and current collapse near drain
region.

4.2 Surface Passivation

It is the oxide layer deposition [65] at the top of a high electron mobility transistor to produce
stable electrical characteristics by separating the top edge of the transistor from cross talk and
chemical reactions in the atmosphere. This degrades reverse leakage current, improves breakdown
field, and increases the power consumption rating. Silicon Nitride (Si3N4) [66-68] can reduce the
impact of these trap states. In MISFET device [69], Silicon dioxide was strongly recommended to

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reduce these trap effects, It compares the performance of four surface passivants (strontium
fluoride, silicon monoxide, silicon nitrate, and silicon dioxide on the same wafer in order to extract
their impact on the device performance. It has been proved that SiO2 passivation is better than
Si3N4 passivation for low leakage current (IGD) of 0.009 A. But Si3N4 reports the dramatic increase

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in drain current densities of 700 mA with a trade off of increased gate leakage of 0.018 A. Bruce
reports [70] 27.5 db of output gain, output power of 4w/mm, PAE of 40%, breakdown voltage of 98
V. On the other hand, it has been demonstrated that incorporating SiNx passivation with field plates

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can reduce the RON significantly at high drain voltage switching. Chu says [71] incorporating field
plates, Si3N4 and ALD under gate increases the breakdown voltage of 1200 V, reduces the RON of
0.5Ω , improves ID current of 0.18 A, and Cgd reduces to 3 PF which in turn reduces the trap effect.
To increase the breakdown field strength of HEMT [72], low-K dielectric (Si3N4) passivating

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material incorporated with high-K passivation layer (La2O3) resulting high withstand voltage of
1400 V. Ohi presents [73] a multilayered protecting layer SiN/Sio2 on 3 µm gate AlGaN/GaN
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HEMT to enhance the breakdown voltage up to 1900 V with low ON resistance. Nicolas Herbecq
[51] records superior breakdown voltage of 3000 V i) using MOCVD SiN passivation layer grown
on AlGaN/GaN HEMT and ii) by suppressing the parasitic conduction at the substrate, through 70%
removal of local substrate. To reduce the ON resistance and current collapse at high stress voltages
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up to 200 V, a thin film of the AlN passivation layer was grown on the surface of the device using
PEALD. Sen Huang demonstrates [74] AlN PEALD passivation results negligible drain leakage
with small RON of 1.5 Ω. But compromising the drain current resulting 350 mA. On the other hand,
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practically the passivation layer should have more thickness between 50–100 nm for wetness
resistance and inclusion of multiple field plates in the device. The PEALD AlN gate dielectric layer
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yields [75] maximum trasconductance of 289 mS/mm with reduced trap density 8×1012 cm−2. By
using ultra thin AlN barrier (3 nm) and SiN passivation AlN/GaN HFET [76] exhibits high mobility
as 1590 cm2/Vs. CF Lo presents [77] a HEMT device fabricated with AlN passivation using ozone
treatment achieves high drain current of 1.25 A with high mobility of 1900 cm2/Vs. Using 0.2 µm
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gate technology [78], thermally grown Al2O3 passivation on AlN/GaN MOSHEMT gives good
direct DC current of 1.5 A/mm. In RF communication, high speed switching is an essential feature
to establish a reliable operation of the device. ION/IOFF ratio is a parameter which directly influence
the switching characteristics of HEMT’s. Ting-En Hsieh demonstrates Al2O3 passivated normally
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off gate recessed AlGaN/GaN HEMT device to enhance the ON/OFF ratio up to 109 [79]. [80]
presents a low interface trap in GaN HEMT due to a combination of HfO2 and Y2O3 oxide layers as
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passivation. It results the maximum drain current of 943 mA with improved ON/OFF ratio of 5.2 ×
1011 cm−2 and reduced Cgd of 210 nF. The ALD technology attributes an accurate but sluggish
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growing rate of 2.5 nm/hour and costly depositing method for the thickness above 20 nm of AlN
ACCEPTED
film. Hence, a new passivation combination MANUSCRIPT
of AlN/SiNx stacks with 4-nm AlN deposition using
PEALD and 50-nm SiNx deposition using PECVD, results a low cost fabrication method to achieve
minimal static current and low current collapse in high voltage Gallium Nitrate HEMTs. Many
techniques were adopted to develop Gallium Nitrate MOSHEMTs, and various gate
dielectrics/oxides have been examined, such as AlN [79], Y2O3 [80], HfO2 [81], SiO2 [82], SiN
[83], [84-85], [89], Al2O3 [86-88], [90-91] La2O3 [92], LaLuO3 [93]. Though the leakage current is
better, most of the dielectrics exhibiting ON/OFF ratios of ID in the range of 107-1010, much lower
than needed. This is due to bad interface quality between barrier layer and gate oxide. Additionally,
defects at the interface [92-96] reduces the device low noise frequency operation, with Hooges
parameters in the range of 10−2 -10−3. But Hong Zhou [97] used MgCaO and Al2O3 as gate
dielectrics to achieve highest ON/OFF ratio surpassing 1012 with low Hooge parameter of 10−4 for
GaN HEMT.

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4.3 Field Plate configuration

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The power characteristics of GaN HEMT shall be enhanced by connecting field plates [98] at the
gate and source terminals. Because it limits the current collapse and also improves an off state
breakdown field strength of the device. To the date, lots of experiments have been conducted to

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understand the impact of field-plates on current collapse, gate and drain lag. It has been proved that
increase in field plate length reduces current collapse and lag phenomena. Electron traps can be
reduced for longer field plates. It is clear that in source field plate connected HEMTs, the trapping
effect will be more due to the electrons injected deeply into the buffer layer beneath the gate area.

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Comparing source field plate [99], gate field plate structure yields higher breakdown field with
lower current collapse. Different configurations of field plates were fabricated to analyze the current
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collapse and spikes in high-voltage HEMTs. The Ron increased by current collapse phenomena can
be decreased by the single-gate field plate and dual field plate structures. Dual field plate HEMTs
[100-102] were more attractive to limit the current collapse than single gate field plate HEMTs due
to the distribution of electric field on the top of the device their by reducing peaks. Field plate also
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plays a role to boost the power densities of HEMT devices. Ahmet Toprak [103] demonstrated that
optimizing field plate length can improve the power characteristics of GaN based high electron
mobility transistors.. With 0.6 µm gate length and 0.5 µm field plate length, maximum output power
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density reported in this article as 5.2 W/mm. Also power added efficiency of 33%, Gain of 11.4 db
was achieved at 8 GHZ operating frequencies. Comparing GaAs HEMT’s, GaN based HEMT
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exhibits five times higher power densities at its output. High power density of 9.1 W/mm, Power
added efficiency of 23.7%, and maximum gain of 5.8 db was demonstrated [104] by V. Kumar at 18
GHZ. The self heating effect is one of the major effect need to be considered for high power
devices. Because it significantly reduces the power characteristics of GaN based HEMTs. As the
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power density increases in the device, thermal resistance in turn increases. To overcome this effect,
field plates come into the picture. Configuring field plates [105] can degrade the thermal resistance
in turn improves the power performance of HEMT. The device with Lfp =1 µm, Lfspo = 2 µm, Lfspr =3
µm provides maximum power density of 12 W/mm with low thermal resistance of 18 K/W/mm.
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With 0.14 gate technology [106] two different devices were fabricated on same MMIC for X-band
and Ka-Band frequency applications. First device exhibits 7.7 W/mm at 35 GHZ on a standard 4 ×
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65 µm T gate HEMT. Second device exhibits 12.5 W/mm at 10 GHZ on a standard 4 × 75-µm T-
gated HEMT. These are the [107] highest recorded value of power densities for X and Ka Band
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GaN MMIC’s to the date. However, lengthy field plates reduce the breakdown field because of
separate breakdown between the ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
drain and the field plates. But the breakdown voltage shall be
improved by increasing gate to drain length. Using Schottky barrier diodes with field plate
configuration, Taku Horiia [108] presents a GaN HEMT with low specific ON resistance of 1.1
mΩ.cm2 and maximal breakdown field strength of 680 V. Multiple field plates [109] are connected
over SiN passivation layer to enhance the breakdown voltage from 250 to 900 V. It also exhibits the
mobility of 1310 cm2 V-1 s-1 with maximum ID of 700 mA/mm. The gate field plate connected to
GaN HEMT suppress the current collapse effect and yields the maximum breakdown field of 1400
V with low on resistance of 15 Ω. mm. For varying field plate length [110], the breakdown voltage
was almost same. But the ON resistance, reduced for the longest field plate. For a 1µm gate GaN
HEMT [111], SiN passivation layer and gate field plates are used to achieve very low ohmic contact
resistance of 1.5x10-5 Ω.cm2 with higher breakdown voltage of 1700 V. This attribute makes this
device suitable for LNAs and high power switching [112] applications.

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4.4 Impact of Back Barrier layer

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To speed up the HEMT device, [113] the length of gate scaled down deep to < 50 nm. But the
barrier layer on top is not so effective to control the reduction of pinch-off characteristics during
high drain field. Hence there is a limitation for scaling the top barrier layer. Too much of scaling

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results many problems such as short channel effect, reduction in 2DEG density and the increase in
reactivity to the surface layer. The AlGaN back barrier layer was first introduced in AlGaN/GaN
high electron mobility transistors with long gate length (0.15 µm) devices. The powerful carrier
confinement characteristics of back barrier structure [114] improved the pinch-off Characteristic

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successfully. By including AlGaN back barrier, the polarization effect will be increased towards the
channel. If Al composition is increased, the polarization and performance will be improved. But it
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causes trap effect near the interface layer. The kink effect [115] is an another issue found in GaN
HEMT devices. It is an abnormal rise in drain current at low source drain voltage. It causes trap
effect in GaN HEMT’s, which is also responsible for the current collapse. These traps can be
detrapped by hot electrons from the channel at high Vds. Barrier layers are responsible for limiting
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the electrons in the upper portion of the device, But the carrier confinement was poor at the bottom
region. So one more barrier layer was included [116] as a back barrier layer from the bottom side.
Hence the second hetero structure was formed in the same device yielding improved carrier
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confinement resulting high breakdown fields up to 390 V from 60 V. In 100 nm gate GaN HEMT,
the AlGaN back barrier was so helpful to maintain a drain induced barrier lowering around 50-60
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mV/V. While preserving the reduction of subthreshold swing due to short channel effects. The
effect of back barrier layer in 65 nm device reports [117] cutoff frequency increment from 195 GHZ
to 210 GHZ. GaN based High electron mobility transistors with an AlGaN back barrier structure is
a superb candidate for high frequency (Ka, V, W) band MMIC’s and high power switching
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applications. Ren Chunjiang [118] demonstrates 12 GHz Gallium nitrate SPDT MMIC switch with
maximum power handling capacity of 88.4 W, 1.3 A of maximum drain current and the breakdown
field exceeding 70 V for GaN HEMT fabricated with AlGaN back barriers. Using [119] gate field
plate, PECVD SiN passivation with a thickness of 50 nm and AlGaN back barrier with a thickness
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of 2 µm, large breakdown field strength of 580 V with low specific RON of 1.25 m.Ω.cm2 can be
achieved. At large temperature profiles, AlGaN back barrier exhibits low carbon doping
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concentration. Due to large band gap characteristics of AlGaN [120], it blocks leakage current from
channel to the substrate, thereby increasing the breakdown voltage up to 1702 V. Also, it reduces
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the dispersion effect significantly, resulting low dynamic ON resistance of 7.2 m.Ω.cm2. The double
hetero structure AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN ACCEPTED
HEMT deviceMANUSCRIPT
[121] records maximum breakdown voltage of
2200 V using the local substrate removal technique to reduce the parasitic conduction at silicon
substrate. A 2 µm gate AInAlN/GaN MOSHEMT [122] With AlGaN Back Barrier layer of 850 nm
exhibits the superior breakdown voltage ever reported as 3000 V with tiny RON of 4.25 m.Ω.cm2.
Also the gate leakage current records very low to the date as 1×10-10. Comparing the leakage current
reported above was six times, having a lower magnitude than Schottky barrier high electron
mobility transistors.

5. Diverse HEMT Design Models

5.1 Charge Density Model

To simulate a precise and high speed circuit placed on GaN technology [123-126], a

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mathematical equation for 2DEG density is very essential. The derivation should be based on a
physical process which removes the use of a huge number of conventional parameters. All models
available Currently for ns mainly depend on numerical computation, partly empirical model

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extraction, or solving estimation. Models depending on numerical computation will be slow because
of the iterative feature. Partly empirical designs are very fast, but does not give a deep
understanding about the working of the device. It also has a huge number of conventional
parameters, which need to be extricated from experimental data. Dissimilarity to this perspective,

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[127] presents a physics-based mathematical model with reduced empirical parameters. The
Modelling of 2DEG sheet carrier density from the complex changes of Ef with ns in the quantum is
given in the equation (7).

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2/3
γ 0  C g V go 
[ ]
V g 0 + Vth 1 − ln(V gon ) − 
3  q 

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C gV g0 [127] ....(7)
ns = 2/3
q  V  2γ 0  C g V g 0 
V go 1 + th +  
 V
 god

 3  q 
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Where Ef is the electron energy level at absolute zero temperature, C g - gate capacitance, Vth =
kT/q is the thermal voltage, E0 = γ0ns2/3, and E1 = γ1ns2/3 are two energy level sub bands respectively,
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and q- charge, γ 0 -fitting parameter. Increased gate capacitance Cg causes gate lag which leads to
charge trapping effect in high speed RF switching applications. Self heating is one of the major
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aspect increases the device temperature causing thermal voltage (Vth). Here 2DEG charge density
(ns) having the direct relation to thermal voltage as shown in equation (7).

5.2 Fringing Capacitance Model

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Past two decades, the research has been gradually developing in HEMTs to extract the model for
drain current, right from the basic standard models [128-129] to Vth dependent mathematical models
[130-131] to surface potential dependant models. But, the capacitance voltage characteristics are
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very essential for circuit simulation, but has less focus. [132] presents an experienced conventional
fitting model, which attributes a huge number of unphysical fitting parameters. [133] Presented the
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mathematical model for capacitance including parasitic effects. Here the capacitance model was
built based on accurate computation of surface potential and 2DEG charge density and. The major
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effect discussed here is based on fringing in and out capacitive effect given in the following
equations (8), (9). ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
 V gs − Voff − φ s / d 
C ifs/d = C if _ max exp − 

[133] ....(8)
 λφ t 

 AlGaN + η T g + L ext + (η T g ) + 2T AlGaN η T g

T 2 
2ε x
2

C of = ln  +
π  L ext + T AlGaN  ....(9)
 
k ε AlGaN  πW   
ln   exp  − L ext − TAlGaN 
π    L ext + T AlGaN 
 L 2
ext +T 2
AlGaN   

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Cif - input fringing capacitance, φs / d - surface potential between source and drain, φt - thermal
voltage, W and L - width and length of the channel, Voff - off state threshold voltage. The device

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capacitance depends mainly on the width / length factor of the gate. Reducing the gate length
reduces the parasitic capacitances thereby improving drain current and transconductance of the
device. Always lower capacitive (Cif, Cof) values are good to have high reliable device. Because the
increased capacitance value causes drain lag, gate lag, and current collapse.

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5.3 Thermal Resistance Model

The self heating effect is one of the major effect need to be considered for high power

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devices. Because it significantly reduces the power characteristics of GaN HEMT. Thermal
resistance increases due to increase in the device power density. Lower thermal resistance of a
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device exhibits superior DC performance. This paper [14] presents a comprehensive computation
and characterization of the temperature based RON for AlN/GaN/AlGaN HEMTs using LF and DC
S-parameter calculation. These computations are made at various lump temperatures. And different
RON is measured for various VGS values of HEMT. In addition, it shows the two-dimensional
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physics dependent numerical simulation obtains RON extrication of this device. It presents a easy
method to extricate the temperature based channel sheet resistance and series contact resistance of
the GaN high electron mobility transistor.
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 L + LG + LGD 
R ON (T ) = R se (T ) +  SG  R sh (T ) . [14] ...(10)
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 nWG 

 dR (T ) 
R sh (T ) = R sh (Tref ) +  sh (T − Tref ) . ...(11)
 dT 
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 dR (T ) 
R se (T ) = Rse (Tref ) +  se (T − Tref ) . ...(12)
 dT 
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Where LGD LSG, and LG, are the gate to drain, source to gate, and gate length respectively. In
continuing to direct variation of RON with temperature, Rsh (T ) and Rse (T ) can be presented using
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a direct approximation equation (10), (11), (12). Here, Rse (Tref ) and Rsh (Tref ) are the reference
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contact resistance and sheet resistance and at a reference temperature Tref . High power devices
ACCEPTED
having a problem of increased thermal MANUSCRIPT
resistance at high temperature due to self heating effect. So
achieving low thermal resistance in high power device is the ultimate requirement of GaN HEMTs.

This model shows the direct dependency of series resistance Rse, shunt resistance Rsh and RON with
respect to change in temperature.

5.4 Trap Model

The Trap analysis using the AC capacitance technique was shown in [134]. Interface trap
investigation in hetero structures suffers with the challenge of long discharge time constant of
corresponding intense interface traps, reducing the sub energy level at room temperature.
Furthermore, buried-channel MIS HEMT’s [135-136] have two interfaces with the critical dielectric

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isolated from the 2DEG channel, increasing complexity in interface trap extrication in MISHEMT.
Capture emission time depicts a photo accelerated conductance and capacitance voltage methods
[137] were conventionally adopted to find the density of interface traps in HEMT [138]. Recently it
was observed that two spiking slopes present in the AC capacitance voltage. Here, by inspecting the

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temperature and frequency distribution of the second spiking slope in the AC-CV characteristics. An
influencing AC-capacitance extracting method [138] was developed to discern interface trap MIS
HEMT. It focuses on the second slope in AC- CV which has a potential of giving a dissertation

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generating from the polarized barrier layer in MIS-HEMTs, and precisely plan the dispersion of
interface traps over a long time constant range. It is well known that at higher frequency, the
calculated capacitance is less vulnerable to series resistance than the conductance.. The corrected
capacitance (CC) and corrected conductance (GC) is given in the following equation (13), (14).

CC =
Cm

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(1 − G m R s ) + ω 2 C m R s
2 2 2

ω 2C m CC RS − Gm [134] .... (14)

GC =
(G m R S − 1)
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Where, Cm , Gm -measured capacitance and conductance, Rs- series resistance. Here the interface
trap occurrence was validated by using pulsed measurement and AC capacitance model. The pulsed
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frequency used here for testing the device is 10 MHZ. The series resistance extracted ~ = 41.Ω..
Trapping effect will be more in the interface region, which increases the parasitic capacitance (C),
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series resistance (Rs), but reducing the transconductance (Gm) of the device.
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

6. Survey Results for AlGaN/GaN and AlN/GaN HEMT devices

Due to high breakdown voltage characteristics (3.3MV/cm) and high electron velocity
7
(2.5×10 ), GaN HEMT became an impressive area of research due of their capability of high
voltage and high power millimeter wave applications. On present AlGaN/GaN HEMT device has
been profoundly developed by introducing back barrier, passivation and field plates in the device.
AlGaN/GaN based HEMT’s frequency of operation has been raised significantly year by year. It
can be achieved by the device gate length reduction as shown in Fig.8. But reducing too much of
gate length causes [49] short channel effect. This suppresses the electron drift characteristics in the

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channel and modifies the Vth of the device. So to limit this short channel effects, thin barrier (6 nm)
layers were included in the device structure.

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Fig.8 Gate Length Vs Cut-off frequency characteristics of a GaN HEMTs [49, 52, 53, 58, 139-149]

The major advantage of the (Al,Ga)N/GaN based HEMT’s [139] for microwave and mm-wave
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applications, mainly because of its wide band gaps and the large two dimensional electron gas
carrier densities obtaining from spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations related with the lattice
constant mismatching between AlN, AlGaN and GaN. So this device was suitable for strong high-
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current wideband transistors capable of working with high temperatures and high voltages. LV
Yuan Jie presents 60 nm self aligned T gate AlGaN/GaN device regrown ohmic contacts by
MOCVD. It records [49] a maximum drain current (Id) of 2A, transconductance (Gm) of 608 mS,
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with higher corner frequency and maximal frequency of 152 GHZ and 219 GHZ respectively. A 20
17

nm self aligned gate technology AlGaN/GaN HEMT device demonstrates the highest fT of 400
ACCEPTED
GHZ with recording fMAX of 550 GHZ. This deviceMANUSCRIPT
has five times higher breakdown field compared
with existing 20 nm AlGaN/GaN HEMT’s. Micovic [52] also presents 59% of power added
efficiency with output power of 24.3 dbm calculated at 32 GHZ with 3v bias.

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Fig.9 Cut-off frequency Vs Maximum frequency characteristics of GaN HEMTs [49, 52, 58, 53,
139-149]
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The 20 nm AlN/GaN/AlGaN HEMT [58] double heterostructure fully passivated device

manufactured by a self aligned gate process makes AlN/GaN HEMT to operate with high speed of
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fT 454 GHZ. The author also suggests gate capacitance scaling and time delay analysis to improve
the frequency of operation further. The 20 nm gate technology [53] AlN/GaN/AlGaN HEMT device
was fabricated with crystalline over layers of tiny resistance n+ ohmic contact, symmetric self
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aligned metal/2DEG and gate contact records the maximum frequency of 600 GHZ while
preserving excellent JFOM due to the comparable scaling of parasitic and intrinsic delay element.
The high frequency performance was achieved by AlN/GaN based HEMT’s. It presents [58] higher
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cutoffs and maximum frequency of 454 GHZ and 600 GHZ. The AlGaN/GaN HEMT [53] recorded
a maximum cutoff frequency of 2.24 THZ with very low breakdown voltage. Incorporating ohmic
and 2DEG/metal Schottky contacts [53] using the scaling technique of self aligned AlN/GaN
HEMT records very high cutoff frequency of 2.02 THZ while maintaining the high breakdown
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electric field exceeding 18 V. This attribute makes self aligned AlN/GaN HEMT devices to be a
unique and popular for power amplifiers, low power, low noise amplifiers, mixers, multipliers,
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complicated combined signals and digital systems. Fig.9 shows the corner frequency verses
maximum frequency characteristics of a GaN HEMTs. [139] Obtaining higher corner frequency and
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maximum frequency with high breakdown field is the ultimate requirement in high power high gain
millimeter wave amplifiers. It canACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
be possible with superior AlN/GaN based HEMTs due to the
presence of high velocity electrons under high potential bias.

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Fig.10 Drain Current Vs Gate Length characteristics of GaN HEMTs [49, 50, 55, 57, 58, 143, 150-
167]

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The Drain current Verses Gate length characteristics of GaN HEMTs were shown in Fig.10. For the
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past two decades, several techniques and device structures were adopted to improve the
transconductance and drain current densities of High Electron Mobility transistors. Recently GaN
material has been very popular and helpful in enhancing the DC performance of HEMT’s. This is
because of unique nature of GaN material having wide band energy gap of 3.4 eV and high
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breakdown voltage of [168] 3MV/cm. Jiejie Zhu, presents a temperature dependent gate recessed
DC and transport response of AlGaN/GaN MISHEMT. The gate recess influences the 2DEG charge
density and thermal stability of the MISFET. It reduces alloy disorder dispersion, which in turn
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improves the drain current and transconductance of the device. It reports [151] the maximum ID of
1.6 A/mm with high Gm of 353 mS /mm.
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

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Fig.11 Transconductance Vs Gate Length [49, 50, 55, 57, 58, 170, 150-167]

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Fig 11 shows the transconductance verses gate length characteristics of GaN HEMTs. The
AlGaN/GaN device [49] was developed by regrowing n+ GaN ohmic contact, 60 nm T shaped gate

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and SiN are protecting layer. It achieves superior drain current densities of 2A with a maximum
transconductance of 608 mS/mm operating at corner and maximum frequency of 150/ 210 GHZ. In
AlGaN/GaN device, to increase the drain current, short channel effects need to be eliminated in the
device. It can be possible by [50] gate recessing technique. It increases the transconductance from

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607 mS/mm to 764 mS/mm and f MAX from 192 GHZ to 263 GHZ.
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Fig.12 Gate Length Vs ON resistance Characteristics of GaN HEMTs [51, 54, 169-177]
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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

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Fig.13 ON resistance Vs Breakdown voltage of GaN HEMTs at LG=1.5 µm [51, 154, 176, 178-183]

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Yan Tang [58] reports 20 nm gate AlN/GaN heterostructure developed with self aligned
gate and AlGaN back barrier. It demonstrates the maximum drain current of 3 A with a record
breaking transconductance of 1.36 S/mm. K. Shinohara [173] uses heavily doped ohmic contact

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with self aligned gate to enhance the RF and DC characteristics of AlN/GaN heterostructure HEMT.
For a 20 nm gate, it exhibits high transconductance of >1 S/mm, superior high current density of 4
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A/mm, and records low RON of 0.52 m.Ω.mm. Obtaining very low RON is one of the important key
aspects to have perfect switching in RF application. Because increased RON causes increased gate
drain delay which reduces the frequency performance of HEMT devices. It leads to current collapse
and trapping effects in the GaN HEMT’s. It is known that, increasing the device gate length
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increases ON resistance as shown in Fig 12. For a 0.5 µm gate length [54], AlGaN/GaN with GaN
back barrier demonstrates very low RON of 0.39 m.Ω.mm.with high breakdown voltage over 1 kV.
The self aligned n+ heavily doped ohmic contact AlN/GaN HEMT [173] reports low RON of 0.52
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m.Ω.mm with high operating frequency of 342 GHZ. As the gate length reduces (scaling down), the
breakdown voltage and RON reduce. But achieving high breakdown voltage with lower ON
resistance is the critical requirement in high power HEMT devices. An AlN/GaN device satisfies
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this condition, so it is well suited for RF and high power applications. Nicholas herbecq [51]
demonstrates a 1.5 µm gate AlGaN/GaN HEMT with local substrate removal technique to record a
very high breakdown field of 3 kV with low RON of 10 m.Ω.cm2 as shown in Fig.13. But AlN/GaN
HEMT [176] achieves record breaking breakdown field of 2.3 kV maintaining very low ON
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resistance of 4.6 mΩ.cm2.

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ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

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Fig.14 Gate length Vs Threshold voltage of a GaN HEMTs [148, 184-194]

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The threshold voltage of a device [195-196] which determines the mode of operation in HEMT. If
the threshold voltage is negative, then it works in depletion mode of operation. If the threshold
voltage is positive, then the device works in enhancement mode of operation. Higher threshold
voltage causes higher breakdown field in the HEMT device. Here the comparison graph represents

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the enhancement mode operation of AlGaN/GaN and AlN/GaN HEMT. Yun-Hsiang [189]
demonstrates the highest threshold voltage of +6.5 V with high breakdown field of 1140 V for 3 µm
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gate length AlGaN/GaN MISHEMT using multilayer fluorinated gate stack. It also yields the sheet
charge density (ns) and carrier mobility of 8.5×1012 cm−2 and 1450 cm2/Vs respectively. On the
other side, [194] AlN/GaN HEMT with an ultra thin barrier layer of 2 nm exhibits the maximum
threshold voltage of 3 V with the ID of 550 mA. From the Fig 14, it is transparent that the threshold
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voltage levels for AlGaN/GaN HEMT’s are high than AlN/GaN HEMT’S for the same gate length.
But even for low threshold voltage, AlN/GaN HEMT devices can yield higher breakdown fields
compared with AlGaN/GaN devices.
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8. Conclusion
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GaN based HEMT devices are a superb candidate for RF and high power applications. The scope of
this device was excellent because of its unique nature of wide band gap (3.4 eV), large breakdown
voltage and high frequency of operation. Comparing AlGaN/GaN HEMT, AlN/GaN HEMT stands
superior in DC and RF performance due to its large polarization effects. AlN has the band gap of
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6.2 eV and large breakdown field of 11 kV. Using self aligned 20 nm gate AlN/GaN HEMT records
highest cutoff of 2.02 THZ, while preserving high breakdown field exceeding 18 V. The drain
current reported also very high as 4 A. It is comparatively two times higher value than AlGaN/GaN
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HEMT. The breakdown voltage reported also very high as 2.3 kV with the tiny on resistance of 4.6
m.Ω.cm2. The AlN/GaN based HEMT achieved very high 2DEG density of 6 × 1013 cm−2. But
Compared to AlGaN/GaN HEMT, AlN/GaN device has more trapping effects because of Al
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composition in the barrier layer has higher surface sensitivity. Furthermore, analysis of gate drain
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lag, current collapse phenomena can enhance the performance and reliability of AlN/GaN HEMT
technology. ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

REFERENCE

[1] U. K. Mishra, “AlGaN/GaN HEMTs An overview of device operation and applications,” Proc.
IEEE, vol. 90, no. 6, pp. 1022–1031, 2002.

[2] K. Joshin, “A 174 W high-efficiency GaN HEMT power amplifier for W-CDMA base station
applications,” in Proc. IEEE International. Electron Devices Meeting,, pp. 12.6.1–12.6.3, 2003

[3] U. K. Mishra, “GaN-based RF power devices and amplifiers,” Proc. IEEE, vol. 96, no. 2, pp.

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287–305, 2008.

[4]Baliga,” Gallium nitride devices for power electronic applications”, Semicond. Sci. Technol.

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[5] T. Mimura, “The Early History of the High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT),'' IEEE
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[6]T. Mimura, ”A New Field-Effect Transistor with Selectivel Doped GaAs/n-Al Ga As
Heterojunctions'', Jpn.J. Appl.Phys., vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 225-227, 1980.

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[7] E. J. Lum, ”GaAs Technology Rides the Wireless Wave," IEEE GaAs IC Symp. Techn. Digest,
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pp. 1113, 1997.

[8] J. Ajayan and D.Nirmal, “22 nm In0:75Ga0:25As channel-based HEMTs on InP/GaAs

substrates for future THz applications”, Journal of Semiconductors, vol. 38, no. 4, 2017.
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[9] X. Mei ,”First Demonstration of Amplification at 1 THz Using 25-nm InP High Electron
Mobility Transistor Process”, IEEE Electron Device Letters, vol. 36, no. 4, 2015.
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[10]. J. Ajayan and D. Nirmal, “20-nm enhancement-mode metamorphic HEMT with highly doped
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Highlights

• A performance comparison of Various HEMT devices- GaAs, InP, GaN.

• The factors influencing the DC and RF characteristics of GaN HEMT

technology.

• Important extraction models employed in GaN HEMTs.

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• Detailed survey report on (AlN, AlGaN) /GaN based HEMT devices.

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