Enhancement-Mode AlGaN/GaN Nanowire Channel High Electron Mobility Transistor With Fluorine Plasma Treatment by ICP

Abstract

This letter reports on a novel enhancement-mode (E-mode) AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) that combines nanowire channel and fluorine plasma treatment using inductively coupled plasma (ICP). Compared with the conventional HEMTs, the threshold voltage of E-mode HEMT shifts from −2.8 to +0.7 V, and the Schottky reverse leakage current is reduced by one order of magnitude. The device exhibits a superior performance with a drain current of 460 mA/mm at <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V} _{{{\text {GS}}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> - <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V} _{{{\text {TH}}}} = 2$ </tex-math></inline-formula> V. High <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{I}_{{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}}/\text{I}_{{ \mathrm{OFF}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ratio of approximately <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10^{{\mathbf {9}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and high breakdown voltage of 138 V with <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{L}_{{{\text {DS}}}}=4~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> are obtained, i.e., the breakdown voltage of E-mode HEMT is improved by 25% than that in conventional HEMTs. The drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) is as low as 4 mV/V, and the subthreshold swing (SS) of 70 mV/decade is achieved. The device exhibits an intrinsic current gain cutoff frequency <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f_{{\text T}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 22 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${f} _{{\text {max}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 60 GHz.