Positive and negative threshold voltage instabilities in GaN-based transistors

This paper reviews the main mechanisms responsible for bias-temperature instability (BTI) in GaN-based high electron mobility transistors. In the first part of the article, we focus on the threshold voltage instabilities of GaN-based MIS-HEMTs submitted to positive and negative gate bias. We demonstrate that the shift in threshold voltage originates from the trapping/de-trapping of defects located at the insulator/semiconductor interface and/or in the bulk dielectric. In the second part of the paper, we describe the threshold voltage instabilities of GaN-transistors with p-GaN gate, designed specifically for normally-off operation. We present original data indicating that under positive gate bias these devices with p-GaN gate may show a negative threshold voltage shift, which is fully recoverable. This effect is ascribed to the injection of holes under the gate contact, and to the corresponding accumulation of positive charge, possibly at the p-GaN/AlGaN interface. The results described within this paper provide an up-to-date description of the most relevant trapping processes that impact on the stability of threshold voltage and on-resistance in GaN-based transistors.