Reliability Investigation of Gallium Nitride HEMT

摘要

III-N HEMT is one of the most promising transistor for the next generation of RF power devices. Despite the impressive results on power density obtained using discrete devices and total output power for GaN-based amplifier announced in 2003, reliability demonstration is the key issue before devices can be fielded in practical applications. In this article test procedures and samples are described and the last results concerning storage and DC life tests are presented. Schottky barrier degradation was observed as a key factor for the metallurgical tests. DC life-tests showed a slow and steady drain current drop followed by stabilization as a function of time.