Simulating RF Performance of Proton Irradiated AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMT)s

Abstract

AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTS) subjected to proton irradiation of fluence up to 1014 cm-2 were simulated to observe the impact on small signal and RF characteristics. While a lot of work has covered dc degradation of HEMTs, very few studies exist which focus exclusively on RF degradation despite their high frequency applications. This work establishes a simulation framework capable of frequency domain device simulation up to 10 GHz. The role of defects generated by proton irradiation will be studied by carrying out low frequency transconductance simulation and current gain frequency sweeps to examine degradation of cut-off frequency. The primary objective will be to understand the role of partially ionized donor traps near the AlGaN/GaN interface and how their bias dependence and capture time constants may significantly impact cut-off frequency and current gain estimations at high frequencies.