DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENTS IN ALGAN/GAN HEMT DEVICE ISOLATION CHARACTERISTICS AFTER UV-OZONE PRE-TREATMENT

摘要

A UV-Ozone pre-treatment method of passivation prompted by degradation of AlGaN/GaN HEMT device isolation characteristics after SiNx passivation was conducted and analyzed. Without pre-treatment, breakdown voltages were found to drop from 60V (the test maximum) to ～5 V, and inter-device isolation current was found to increase from 10 to 10~(-6) A following PECVD SiN_x passivation. With pre-treatment, breakdown voltages were found to drop from 60 V to ～58 V, and inter-device isolation current was found to increase from 10~(-9) to ～10~(-8) A following PECVD SiN_x passivation. TEM and XPS measurements were taken to determine the nature of the UV-Ozone treatment, and DC/RF results were analyzed to determine effectiveness of UV-ozone pre-treated passivation versus standard SiN_x passivation.