Totalcurrentcollapsein

HighVoltageGaN MISHEMTs
inducedbyZener trapping
Donghyun Jin,J.Joh*,S.Krishnan*,N.Tipirneni*,
S.Pendharkar*andJ.A.delAlamo
Acknowledgement: SRC, ARPA-E, Samsung Fellowship
*
1
Currentcollapseordynamic
ONresistanceinGaNFETs
R
ON
dependsondevicehistory AfterhighV
OFF
,R
ON

Bigprobleminpowerswitchingapplications
2
Multifieldplate(FP)technology
Keychallengeforcurrentcollapse:
EngineeringelectricfieldprofileathighVinthegatetodrain
gapofGaN MISHEMTs (MetalInsulatorSemiconductorHigh
ElectronMobilityTransistors)
Mul eldplate technology developed
G
D
AlGaN
GaN
NonFP
FP1
FP2
FP3
G
D
AlGaN
GaN
MultiFP
3
Multifieldplate(FP)technology
InhighVOFFstate,
NonFP intenseEeldpeakcurrent collapse
G
D
AlGaN
GaN
NonFP
Efield
V
G
<V
T
HighV
FP1
FP2
FP3
G
D
AlGaN
GaN
MultiFP
4
Multifieldplate(FP)technology
G
D
AlGaN
GaN
FP1
FP2
FP3
G
D
AlGaN
GaN
NonFP
MultiFP
Efield
Efield
InhighVOFFstate,
NonFP intenseEeldpeakcurrent collapse
MultiFP depletionregionextensionandEeldpeak
Effectiveness in current collapse?
V
G
<V
T
HighV
HighV
V
G
<V
T
5
CurrentcollapseathighV
OFF
GaN MISHEMTswithmultiFP(FP1,2,3):
OFFstatestepstresswithV
DS

MonitorI
Dlin
(equivalenttoR
ON
)
V
DS
t
V
GS
0 V
V
T
5 V
0.2 V
I
Dlin
(V
GS
=0V,V
DS
=0.2V)

10sateverystep
OFFstatestress
characterization
t
6
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 200 400 600 800
I
D
l
i
n
/
I
D
l
i
n
(
0
)

V
DS_STRESS
(V)
R
ON
/R
ON
(0) >10
10
V
GS
= V
T
5 V
CurrentcollapseathighV
OFF
GaN MISHEMTswithmultiFP(FP1,2,3):
OFFstatestepstresswithV
DS

MonitorI
Dlin
(equivalenttoR
ON
)
V
DS
t
V
GS
0 V
V
T
5 V
0.2 V
I
Dlin
(V
GS
=0V,V
DS
=0.2V)

10sateverystep
OFFstatestress
characterization
t
Currentcollapse
Total current collapse forV
DS
>300V
R
ON
by> 10
10
byV
DS
=720V
7
Questionstoanswer
Iscurrentcollapserecoverable?
Whereinthedevicedoesthishappen?
Whatarethedynamicsofthisprocess?
Whatisthemechanismresponsible?
Howtomitigate/eliminate?
8
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 100 200 300 400
I
D
l
i
n
/
I
D
l
i
n
(
0
)

V
DS_STRESS
(V)
Currentcollapserecovery?
6consecutivemeasurements
UVexposure+thermaltreatment(180minat200
o
C)inbetween
OFFstatestress:
V
GS
=V
T
5V
Currentcollapsefullyrecoverabletrapping!
2
nd
1
st
run
5
th
6
th
4
th
3
rd
9
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0 3 6 9 12 15
I
D
(
m
A
/
m
m
)
V
DS
(V)
After STRESS
V
GS
V
T
= 7 V
5 V 3 V
-1V
1 V
Lateralextentofcurrentblockage?
Currentcollapsefor lowV
DS
butI
D
flowsagainathighV
DS
punchthroughlikecharacteristics
currentblockageisshortalongchanneldirection
ChangeinoutputcharacteristicsafterV
DS
=300Vstressfor300s:
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0 3 6 9 12 15
I
D
(
m
A
/
m
m
)
V
DS
(V)
Virgin
V
GS
V
T
= 7 V
5 V
3 V
1 V
After 300 V
STRESS
10
Evolutionofsubthreshold characteristicsand4terminalcurrents:
1.E-10
1.E-08
1.E-06
1.E-04
1.E-02
1.E+00
1.E+02
-9.25 -7.25 -5.25 -3.25 -1.25
I
D
(
m
A
/
m
m
)
V
GS
-V
T0
(V)
360 V
400 V
300 V
200 V
Virgin 100 V
V
T0
4
V
DS
= 0.25 V
500 V
6 2 -2 0
NochangeinV
T
currentblockageinextrinsicdeviceregion
Attheonsetofseveretrapping,allcurrentsarenegligible
1.E-04
1.E-03
1.E-02
1.E-01
1.E+00
1.E+01
1.E+02
0 100 200 300 400
I
S
T
R
E
S
S
(
n
A
/
m
m
)
V
DS_STRESS
(V)
|I
G
|
|I
S
|
|I
B
|
I
D
ChangeinV
T
andterminalcurrents?
11
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 100 200 300 400
I
D
l
i
n
/
I
D
l
i
n
(
0
)

V
DS_STRESS
(V)
FP1
long
short
standard
(b)
Impactofdevicegeometry?
CurrentcollapseindependentofL
GD
andgeometryoffieldplates
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 100 200 300 400
I
D
l
i
n
/
I
D
l
i
n
(
0
)

V
DS_STRESS
(V)
L
GD
short
standard
long
longer
(a)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 100 200 300 400
I
D
l
i
n
/
I
D
l
i
n
(
0
)

V
DS_STRESS
(V)
FP2
long
short
standard
(c)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 100 200 300 400
I
D
l
i
n
/
I
D
l
i
n
(
0
)

V
DS_STRESS
(V)
FP3
short
standard
long
(d)
12
L
FP1
L
FP3
L
FP2
Currentblockagelocation?
ChannelunderfieldplatesfullydepletedbyV
DS
=50V
ForV
DS
>50V,electricfieldpeaks inchannelunderedgeofFP3
Currentblockageunder edgeofFP3
Capacitancevoltagecharacteristicsofvirgindevice:
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 100 200 300 400
C
D
G
/
C
D
G
(
0
)
V
DS
(V)
FP1
FP2
FP3
V
GS
= V
T
5 V
13
Roleoftemperature?
OFFstatestepstressatdifferentT:
TerminalcurrentsasTNotsourceoftrapping
TotalcurrentcollapseindependentofT
Trappingthroughtunnelingprocess
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0 100 200 300 400
I
D
l
i
n
/
I
D
l
i
n
(
0
)

V
DS_STRESS
(V)
100C
25C
200C
V
GS
= V
T
5 V
(a)
1.E-06
1.E-05
1.E-04
1.E-03
1.E-02
1.E-01
1.E+00
0 100 200 300 400
I
D
(

A
/
m
m
)
VDS_STRESS (V)
1.E-06
1.E-05
1.E-04
1.E-03
1.E-02
1.E-01
1.E+00
0 100 200 300 400
I
S
(

A
/
m
m
)
V
DS_STRESS
(V)
I
D
100 C
25 C
200 C
100 C
25 C
200 C
I
S
(b)
1.E-06
1.E-05
1.E-04
1.E-03
1.E-02
1.E-01
1.E+00
0 100 200 300 400
I
G
(

A
/
m
m
)
VDS_STRESS (V)
1.E-06
1.E-05
1.E-04
1.E-03
1.E-02
1.E-01
1.E+00
0 100 200 300 400
I
B
(

A
/
m
m
)
V
DS_STRESS
(V)
I
G
100 C
25 C
200 C
100 C
25 C
200 C
I
B
14
Dynamicsoftrapping
EvolutionofI
Dlin
duringtrappingprocess:
TrappingacceleratedasV
DS_stress

CharacteristictrappingtimeexhibitsZenerlikedependence
onpeakelectricfieldunderFP3edge(fromsimulations)
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 2 4 6 8 10
I
D
l
i
n
/
I
D
l
i
n
(
0
)

Time (min)
180 V
170 V
150 V
160 V
140 V
V
GS
= V
T
5 V

2 0 4 6 8 10
1
10
100
1000
0.3 0.32 0.34 0.36

(
s
e
c
)
1/E
PEAK
(cm/MV)
E
T
E
V
1 eV
Zener tunnelinglaw:
ln = A
(E
1
-E
v
)
3
2
,
E
PLAK
+ B
15
Dynamicsofthermaldetrapping
EvolutionofI
Dlin
duringdetrappingatdifferenttemperatures:
DetrappingacceleratedasT
Activationenergy:E
A
=0.63eV
OFFstatestress:
V
DS_stress
=200V,t=600sec
16
16.5
17
17.5
18
18.5
24 26 28 30
1/kT (eV
-1
)
E
A
= 0.63 eV
l
n
(
T
2
t
)

(
K
2
s
)
16
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 5 10 15 20
I
D
l
i
n
/
I
D
l
i
n
(
0
)

Time (min)
Dark
2.8 eV
3.1 eV
3.5 eV
4.1 eV
Recovery Stress
DynamicsofUVenhanceddetrapping
EvolutionofI
Dlin
duringdetrappingunderUVexposure(300K):
DetrappingacceleratedbyUVwithE
h
>2.8eV
OFFstatestress:
V
DS_stress
=300V,t=3min
17
Electricfieldsimulations
Silvaco simulationsofelectricfieldattopsurfaceofAlGaN
barrierfromgatetodrain:
InOFFstateforV
DS
>100V,fieldpeaksunderedgeofFP3
E
PEAK
increaseswithV
DS
AtV
DS
=200V,E
PEAK
=3.4MV/cm
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
4 9 14 19
E
-
f
i
e
l
d

(
M
V
/
c
m
)
Space
1000 V
800 V
600 V
400 V
200 V
100 V
E
PEAK
Gate FP1 FP2 FP3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0 200 400 600 8001000
E
P
E
A
K
(
M
V
/
c
m
)
V
DS
(V)
V
GS
=V
T
5V
18
Summaryofkeyfindings
TotalcurrentcollapseafterhighV
OFF
bias:
Fullyrecoverable
Triggeredandacceleratedbyelectricfield
FollowsZenerlikedependencewithE
T
E
V
=1.0eV
TrappedregionveryshortandlocatedunderFP3edge
NoeffectfromvariationsofL
GD
andFPslengths
Temperatureindependenttrappingprocess
Detrapping enhancedbyUVwithE
h
>2.8eV
Detrapping enhancedbytemperaturewithE
A
=0.63eV
19
Mechanismfortotalcurrentcollapse
Observationsconsistentwith:
FieldinducedtrappingprocessZener trapping
TakesplaceinnarrowregionunderedgeofFP3
Electronsfromvalencebandtunneltotraps
TrappedelectronsliftbandsinONstateandcreateblockage
At highV
OFF
After highV
OFF
20
Energylocationoftraps?
FromZener trappingcalculations:E
T
E
V
1.0eV
FromUVdetrappingexperiments:E
h
2.8eV
Forreference:E
g
(GaN)=3.4eV,E
g
(Al
0.2
Ga
0.8
N)=3.8eV
21
ThermaldetrappingwithE
A
=0.63eV?
Ifblockageregionisshort,thermaldetrappingpossiblewith
E<E
C
E
T
ThermaldetrappingE
a
=0.63eV seemsinconsistentwithenergy
picture
22
Physicaloriginoftraps?
Trapenergyconsistentwithtrapsresponsibleforyellow
luminescenceinAlGaNandGaN.
InGaN:E
C
E
YB
=2.5eV (Calleja,PRB1997)
InAl
0.2
Ga
0.8
N:E
C
E
YB
=2.8eV (Hang,JAP2001)
YellowluminescencetrapsattributedtoCinNsite(Lyons,
APL2010)
Mitigation:carefullymanageCdopinginbufferandmigration
toAlGaNbarrier
23
Conclusions
TotalcurrentcollapseinhighvoltageGaN MISHEMTs
Currentcollapseisrecoverable
AttributedtoZener trappinginAlGaNbarrierorGaN
channelunderedgeofoutermostfieldplate
Trapsareconsistentwiththoseresponsibleforyellow
luminescenceinGaNandAlGaN
Mainsuspect:C
Attentiontodefectcontrolduringepitaxialgrowth
andappropriatedesignofmultifieldplatestructures
24