Dose-Rate Dependence of the Total-Ionizing-Dose Response of GaN-Based HEMTs

Abstract

Significant threshold voltage $V_{\mathrm {th}}$ shifts are observed during 10-keV X-ray irradiation of AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). Shifts are much smaller for lower dose-rate Cs-137 irradiation than that for higher dose-rate X-ray irradiation. This occurs because hydrogen transport and interactions with defects and impurities in these crystalline wide bandgap semiconductor materials differ fundamentally from those in amorphous SiO2. The electric field is also higher in GaN-based HEMTs than in bipolar base oxides. The absence of enhanced low-dose-rate sensitivity in these devices simplifies testing of GaN-based HEMTs for space applications. No significant X-ray-induced $V_{\mathrm {th}}$ shifts are observed in development stage InAlN/GaN HEMTs.