Suppression of Kink in the Output Characteristics of AlInN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors by Post-Gate Metallization Annealing

In this paper, we report the effect of post-gate metallization annealing on the performance of GaN-based High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs). The performances of HEMTs annealed at 200 °C (HEMT1) and at 400 °C (HEMT2) for 5 minutes in N2 ambient are compared. While there is a kink in the output characteristics of HEMT1, there is no such kink in the output characteristics of HEMT2. The kink is attributed to impact ionization in the GaN channel. Surface and interface traps of HEMT1 increase the peak electric field at the drain side gate edge and cause impact ionization. The post-gate metallization annealing at a higher temperature reduces the surface and interface traps, which reduces the peak electric field in HEMT2 and suppresses impact ionization. This is substantiated by TCAD simulations. Threshold voltage instability on the application of negative gate bias stress was also examined for these devices. A positive shift in threshold voltage was observed in HEMT1 on the application of negative gate bias stress, whereas the corresponding shift was negative in HEMT2, indicating the presence of two different types of traps in HEMT1 and HEMT2.