Constructing drain surrounded double gate structure in AlGaN/GaN HEMT for boosting breakdown voltage.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Semiconductor Physics
• Electrical Engineering

Background:

• AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are crucial for high-voltage, high-frequency power applications.
• Current collapse in HEMTs under high voltage impedes their performance and development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate a drain surrounded double gate (DSDG) AlGaN/GaN HEMT structure for enhanced breakdown performance.
• To analyze the off-state characteristics and breakdown mechanisms of the proposed DSDG-HEMT.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing Sentaurus TCAD for device simulation and optimization.
• Investigating the impact of the dual-gate structure on electron movement and energy bands.
• Analyzing the suppression of buffer leakage and drain-induced barrier lowering (DIBL) effect.

Main Results:

• The DSDG structure effectively restrains electron injection from the source, reducing punch-through current.
• The dual gates alleviate the DIBL effect by manipulating the energy band near the drain.
• Simulations show a breakdown voltage enhancement of approximately 100 V due to suppressed buffer leakage.

Conclusions:

• The DSDG AlGaN/GaN HEMT architecture offers a promising solution to enhance breakdown voltage.
• This design effectively mitigates current collapse, paving the way for more robust power devices.
• The findings contribute to the advancement of high-performance GaN-based power electronics.