High Threshold Voltage Normally off Ultra-Thin-Barrier GaN MISHEMT with MOCVD-Regrown Ohmics and Si-Rich LPCVD-SiNx Gate Insulator

Abstract

A high threshold voltage (VTH) normally off GaN MISHEMTs with a uniform threshold voltage distribution (VTH = 4.25 ± 0.1 V at IDS = 1 μA/mm) were demonstrated by the selective area ohmic regrowth technique together with an Si-rich LPCVD-SiNx gate insulator. In the conventional GaN MOSFET structure, the carriers were induced by the inversion channel at a high positive gate voltage. However, this design sacrifices the channel mobility and reliability because a huge number of carriers are beneath the gate insulator directly during operation. In this study, a 3-nm ultra-thin Al0.25Ga0.75N barrier was adopted to provide a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel underneath the gate terminal and selective area MOCVD-regrowth layer to improve the ohmic contact resistivity. An Si-rich LPCVD-SiNx gate insulator was employed to absorb trace oxygen contamination on the GaN surface and to improve the insulator/GaN interface quality. Based on the breakdown voltage, current density, and dynamic RON measured results, the proposed LPCVD-MISHEMT provides a potential candidate solution for switching power electronics.

Keywords

• normally off
• MISHEMT
• MOCVD-regrowth
• leakage current
• dynamic R_ON