Improved linearity, stability, and thermal performance of multi-mesa-channel AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Authors

  • Joel T. Asubar ⋅ JP Graduate School of Engineering, University of Fukui

Abstract

AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility-transistors (HEMTs) are expected to revolutionize the power-switching technology owing to excellent intrinsic material properties of GaN, which include wide bandgap, high carrier saturation velocity, large critical electric field, and good thermal conductivity. However, the widespread deployment of these devices is still hounded by stability issues such as current collapse, kink effect, transconductance collapse, and self-heating. To address these issues, we developed the multi-mesa-channel (MMC) HEMT, in which a periodic trench structure is fabricated only under the gate electrode. The formation of the periodic trench results into parallel nanowire channels with 2-D electron gas (2DEG) surrounded by the gate electrode. A surrounding-field effect in the MMC structure results in a shallower threshold voltage, thus giving another degree of freedom for obtaining enhancement mode operation. In this work, we would present experimental results that demonstrate the superior performance of MMC AlGaN/GaN HEMTs over their conventional planar counterparts. On top of being less vulnerable to current collapse, MMC devices also exhibit improved linearity, stability, and thermal performance, which are all positive attributes required for optimum device operation.

About the Speaker

Joel T. Asubar, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Fukui

Joel T. Asubar received his B.S. ECE degree (silver medalist) from MapĂșa Institute of Technology, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Nagaoka University of Technology, Niigata, Japan, working on semiconductor spintronics. In 2010, he joined the Research Center for Integrated Quantum Electronics (RCIQE) of the Hokkaido University as a Post-doctoral fellow. Since 2014, he has been a Senior Assistant Professor with the University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan. His research interests include growth of heterojunctions and device physics of GaN-based transistors. He is a 2016 Japanese Society of Applied Physics Outstanding Paper Awardee.

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Issue

Article ID

SPP-2016-1B-01

Section

Invited Presentations

Published

2016-08-18

How to Cite

[1]
JT Asubar, Improved linearity, stability, and thermal performance of multi-mesa-channel AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, Proceedings of the Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas 34, SPP-2016-1B-01 (2016). URL: https://proceedings.spp-online.org/article/view/SPP-2016-1B-01.