Effects of Sc2O3 and MgO passivation layers on the output power of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

J. K. Gillespie, R. C. Fitch, J. Sewell, R. Dettmer, G. D. Via, A. Crespo, T. J. Jenkins, B. Luo, R. Mehandru, J. Kim, F. Ren, B. P. Gila, A. H. Onstine, C. R. Abernathy, S. J. Pearton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The low temperature (100 °C) deposition of Sc2O3 or MgO layers is found to significantly increase the output power of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. At 4 GHz, there was a better than 3 dB increase in output power of 0.5 × 100 μm2 HEMTs for both types of oxide passivation layers. Both Sc2O3 and MgO produced larger output power increases at 4 GHz than conventional plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited (PECVD) SiNx passivation which typically showed ≤ dB increase on the same types of devices. The HEMT gain also in general remained linear over a wider input power range with the Sc2O3 or MgO passivation. These films appear promising for reducing the effects of surface states on the dc and rf performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)505-507
Number of pages3
JournalIEEE Electron Device Letters
Volume23
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2002 Sept
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Manuscript received May 13, 2002; revised July 1, 2002. This work was supported in part by Office of Naval Research under Contract N00014-98-1-02-04 and National Science Foundation under Contracts DMR0101438 and CTS 9901173. The review of this letter was arranged by Editor D. Ritter.

Keywords

  • GaN
  • MODFETs
  • Passivation
  • Surface states

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effects of Sc2O3 and MgO passivation layers on the output power of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this