Mechanism of reverse gate leakage current reduction in AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility-transistor after 3-MeV proton irradiation

A 3-MeV proton irradiation experiment was carried out on an AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT). The results showed that the device's saturation drain current decreased, the threshold voltage drifted positively, and the maximum transconductance decreased after irradiation. Interestingly, the forward gate leakage current was almost unchanged, and the reverse gate leakage current was reduced by two orders of magnitude. We found that this experimental phenomenon can be well explained by the Poole–Frenkel emission model. Proton irradiation led to deeper defect energy levels and higher defect concentrations of the device. Deeper defect energy levels made it more difficult for electrons to be excited from the trap state into the conduction band. Thus, the reverse gate leakage current decreased. Higher defect concentrations led to degradation of the output and transfer curves of the device. The deep level transient spectroscopy characterization defect further proved the correctness of this model. The reduction in the reverse gate leakage current had a positive impact on AlGaN/GaN HEMT devices in high power or high frequency applications.