Imaging Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Transistors to Identify Point Defects.

摘要

The purpose of this thesis is to streamline the sample preparation procedure to maximize the yield of successful samples to be analyzed chemically in an energy dispersive spectrometry detector. The secondary objective of this work is to identify the specific chemical elements needed to ascertain trends in stressing nickel/gold and platinum/gold gated high electron mobility transistors (HEMT). We analyze unstressed devices near the hetero-epitaxial layers to ascertain any inconsistencies due to processing defects. Results show it is possible to identify areas of electrical stress-induced diffusion and point defect creation. Identification of these trends will assist in the improvement of gallium nitride HEMT fabrication processes leading to the development of more reliable devices.