TMAH-based wet surface pre-treatment for reduction of leakage current in AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs

Young Jun Yoon; Jae Hwa Seo; Min Su Cho; Hee Sung Kang; Chul Ho Won; In Man Kang; Jung Hee Lee

doi:10.1016/j.sse.2016.06.009

TMAH-based wet surface pre-treatment for reduction of leakage current in AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs

Young Jun Yoon, Jae Hwa Seo, Min Su Cho, Hee Sung Kang, Chul Ho Won, In Man Kang, Jung Hee Lee

School of Electronics Engineering

Kyungpook National University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

The pre-passivation surface treatment process with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH)-based wet solution was proposed for the minimization of the leakage current (I_leak) in AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs). This process step contributes to the simultaneous decrease of the surface current (I_surf) in the active region of device and mesa-isolated region by removing the surface states and traps related to nitrogen (N) vacancy, Ga-oxide, and dangling bonds. Using the surface treatment, the fabricated device achieves a lower off-state current (I_off) of ∼10⁻¹² A/mm, a higher on/off current ratio (I_on/I_off) of ∼10¹¹, a small subthreshold swing (SS) of 68.4 mV/dec. The reduced I_leak also improves breakdown voltage (BV). In addition, the interface trap density (D_it) between the SiN layer and the AlGaN surface was extracted to evaluate the quality of the SiN/GaN interface, which showed that the treatment decreases the D_it with reduction of the surface defects.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	54-57
Number of pages	4
Journal	Solid-State Electronics
Volume	124
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sse.2016.06.009
State	Published - 1 Oct 2016

Keywords

Breakdown voltage
GaN
Leakage current
MIS-HEMT
Surface treatment
TMAH

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10.1016/j.sse.2016.06.009

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title = "TMAH-based wet surface pre-treatment for reduction of leakage current in AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs",

abstract = "The pre-passivation surface treatment process with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH)-based wet solution was proposed for the minimization of the leakage current (Ileak) in AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs). This process step contributes to the simultaneous decrease of the surface current (Isurf) in the active region of device and mesa-isolated region by removing the surface states and traps related to nitrogen (N) vacancy, Ga-oxide, and dangling bonds. Using the surface treatment, the fabricated device achieves a lower off-state current (Ioff) of ∼10−12 A/mm, a higher on/off current ratio (Ion/Ioff) of ∼1011, a small subthreshold swing (SS) of 68.4 mV/dec. The reduced Ileak also improves breakdown voltage (BV). In addition, the interface trap density (Dit) between the SiN layer and the AlGaN surface was extracted to evaluate the quality of the SiN/GaN interface, which showed that the treatment decreases the Dit with reduction of the surface defects.",

keywords = "Breakdown voltage, GaN, Leakage current, MIS-HEMT, Surface treatment, TMAH",

author = "Yoon, {Young Jun} and Seo, {Jae Hwa} and Cho, {Min Su} and Kang, {Hee Sung} and Won, {Chul Ho} and Kang, {In Man} and Lee, {Jung Hee}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2016",

month = oct,

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doi = "10.1016/j.sse.2016.06.009",

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T1 - TMAH-based wet surface pre-treatment for reduction of leakage current in AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs

AU - Yoon, Young Jun

AU - Seo, Jae Hwa

AU - Cho, Min Su

AU - Kang, Hee Sung

AU - Won, Chul Ho

AU - Kang, In Man

AU - Lee, Jung Hee

PY - 2016/10/1

Y1 - 2016/10/1

N2 - The pre-passivation surface treatment process with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH)-based wet solution was proposed for the minimization of the leakage current (Ileak) in AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs). This process step contributes to the simultaneous decrease of the surface current (Isurf) in the active region of device and mesa-isolated region by removing the surface states and traps related to nitrogen (N) vacancy, Ga-oxide, and dangling bonds. Using the surface treatment, the fabricated device achieves a lower off-state current (Ioff) of ∼10−12 A/mm, a higher on/off current ratio (Ion/Ioff) of ∼1011, a small subthreshold swing (SS) of 68.4 mV/dec. The reduced Ileak also improves breakdown voltage (BV). In addition, the interface trap density (Dit) between the SiN layer and the AlGaN surface was extracted to evaluate the quality of the SiN/GaN interface, which showed that the treatment decreases the Dit with reduction of the surface defects.

AB - The pre-passivation surface treatment process with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH)-based wet solution was proposed for the minimization of the leakage current (Ileak) in AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs). This process step contributes to the simultaneous decrease of the surface current (Isurf) in the active region of device and mesa-isolated region by removing the surface states and traps related to nitrogen (N) vacancy, Ga-oxide, and dangling bonds. Using the surface treatment, the fabricated device achieves a lower off-state current (Ioff) of ∼10−12 A/mm, a higher on/off current ratio (Ion/Ioff) of ∼1011, a small subthreshold swing (SS) of 68.4 mV/dec. The reduced Ileak also improves breakdown voltage (BV). In addition, the interface trap density (Dit) between the SiN layer and the AlGaN surface was extracted to evaluate the quality of the SiN/GaN interface, which showed that the treatment decreases the Dit with reduction of the surface defects.

KW - Breakdown voltage

KW - GaN

KW - Leakage current

KW - MIS-HEMT

KW - Surface treatment

KW - TMAH

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EP - 57

JO - Solid-State Electronics

JF - Solid-State Electronics

ER -

TMAH-based wet surface pre-treatment for reduction of leakage current in AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs

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Keywords

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