High breakdown voltage in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs using AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN quantum-well electron-blocking layers

Ya-Ju Lee; Yung-Chi Yao; Chun-Ying Huang; Tai-Yuan Lin; Li-Lien Cheng; Ching-Yun Liu; Mei-Tan Wang; Jung-Min Hwang

doi:10.1186/1556-276X-9-433

High breakdown voltage in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs using AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN quantum-well electron-blocking layers

Nanoscale Res Lett. 2014 Aug 27;9(1):433. doi: 10.1186/1556-276X-9-433. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Ya-Ju Lee¹, Yung-Chi Yao¹, Chun-Ying Huang², Tai-Yuan Lin³, Li-Lien Cheng¹, Ching-Yun Liu¹, Mei-Tan Wang⁴, Jung-Min Hwang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Electro-Optical Science and Technology, National Taiwan Normal University, 88, Sec. 4, Ting-Chou Road, Taipei 116, Taiwan.
² Institute of Electronics Engineering, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
³ Institute of Optoelectronic Sciences, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2, Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 202, Taiwan.
⁴ Solid-State Lighting Systems Department, Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Hsinchu 310, Taiwan.

Abstract

In this paper, we numerically study an enhancement of breakdown voltage in AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) by using the AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN quantum-well (QW) electron-blocking layer (EBL) structure. This concept is based on the superior confinement of two-dimensional electron gases (2-DEGs) provided by the QW EBL, resulting in a significant improvement of breakdown voltage and a remarkable suppression of spilling electrons. The electron mobility of 2-DEG is hence enhanced as well. The dependence of thickness and composition of QW EBL on the device breakdown is also evaluated and discussed.

Keywords: 2-DEG; AlGaN/GaN HEMT; Breakdown voltage.