Electro-thermal modeling of multifinger AlGaN/GaN HEMT device operation including thermal substrate effects

AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) device operation was modeled from the sub-micrometer scale to the substrate using a combination of an electro-thermal device model for the active device with realistic power dissipation within the device and a coupled three dimensional thermal model to account for the substrate. Temperatures for various points within a device were determined as a function of biasing conditions, substrate thickness and temperature, number of fingers, and gate length and pitch. As an example, we have used our model to show that life test results of industry-relevant devices can be significantly affected by the exact testing technique used.

[1]  Alexander A. Balandin,et al.  The Effect of the Thermal Boundary Resistance on Self-Heating of AlGaN/GaN HFETs , 2003 .

[2]  Lester F. Eastman,et al.  Undoped AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for microwave power amplification , 2001 .

[3]  Martin Kuball,et al.  Measurement of temperature distribution in multifinger AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors using micro-Raman spectroscopy , 2003 .

[4]  T. Li,et al.  Reliability of large periphery GaN-on-Si HFETs , 2005, [Reliability of Compound Semiconductors] ROCS Workshop, 2005..

[5]  Tetsuya Suemitsu,et al.  Optical study of high-biased AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors , 2002 .

[6]  M. A. Mastro,et al.  Simulation on the effect of non-uniform strain from the passivation layer on AlGaN/GaN HEMT , 2005, Microelectron. J..

[7]  Alexander A. Balandin,et al.  Temperature dependence of thermal conductivity of AlxGa1−xN thin films measured by the differential 3ω technique , 2004 .

[8]  K. Brennan,et al.  Electron transport characteristics of GaN for high temperature device modeling , 1998 .

[9]  Amir Dabiran,et al.  Annealing temperature stability of ir and ni-based ohmic contacts on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors , 2004 .

[10]  H.A. Hung,et al.  Thermal resistance calculation of AlGaN-GaN devices , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[11]  Alexander A. Balandin,et al.  Electrothermal simulation of the self-heating effects in GaN-based field-effect transistors , 2006 .

[12]  E. A. Burgemeister,et al.  Thermal conductivity and electrical properties of 6H silicon carbide , 1979 .

[13]  Harry F. Cooke,et al.  Precise technique finds FET thermal resistance , 1986 .

[14]  M. Kuball,et al.  Measurement of temperature in active high-power AlGaN/GaN HFETs using Raman spectroscopy , 2002, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[15]  J. Calame,et al.  Simulations of direct-die-attached microchannel coolers for the thermal management of GaN-on-SiC microwave amplifiers , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Components and Packaging Technologies.

[16]  G. Ghione,et al.  Thermal design of power GaN FETs in microstrip and coplanar MMICs , 2005, European Gallium Arsenide and Other Semiconductor Application Symposium, GAAS 2005.

[17]  Joel R. Wendt,et al.  Comparison of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors grown on AlN/SiC templates or sapphire , 2002 .

[18]  C.C. Lee,et al.  Thermal modeling and measurement of GaN-based HFET devices , 2003, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[19]  Alexander A. Balandin,et al.  The Ambient Temperature Effect on Current-Voltage Characteristics of Surface-Passivated GaN-Based Field-Effect Transistors , 2004 .

[20]  A. Souifi,et al.  Traps centers and deep defects contribution in current instabilities for AlGaN/GaN HEMT's on silicon and sapphire substrates , 2006, Microelectron. J..

[21]  Jaime A. Freitas,et al.  Micro-Raman studies of thermal stress effects in GaN heteroepitaxial layers and self-heating effects in AlGaN/GaN HEMT structures , 2005 .

[22]  Mario G. Ancona,et al.  AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistor model including thermal effects , 2000 .

[23]  Alexander A. Balandin,et al.  Thermal conductivity of GaN films: Effects of impurities and dislocations , 2002 .

[24]  John D. Albrecht,et al.  Extrinsic performance limitations of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field effect TRANSISTORS , 1999 .