Reduction in leakage current in AlGaN/GaN HEMT with three Al-containing step-graded AlGaN buffer layers on silicon

Abstract

AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) structures with two and three Al-containing step-graded AlGaN buffer layers (BLs) were grown on silicon (111) substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Considerable tensile stress was observed in the GaN grown with only two 0.8 µm AlGaN BLs, while a large in-plane compression in GaN grown with three 2.3 µm AlGaN BLs. The reverse gate leakage current in the HEMT with three AlGaN BLs was approximately 0.1 µA/mm, which was more than one order of magnitude smaller than that for the HEMT with two AlGaN BLs. A three-terminal off-state breakdown voltage of 265 V and a vertical gate-to-substrate breakdown voltage of 510 V were obtained in the HEMT with three AlGaN BLs. Detailed analysis was performed on the basis of the structural properties of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures.