Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Dec 30;15(1):80.
doi: 10.3390/mi15010080.

Review on Main Gate Characteristics of P-Type GaN Gate High-Electron-Mobility Transistors

Zhongxu Wang  1 , Jiao Nan  1 , Zhiwen Tian  2 , Pei Liu  2 , Yinhe Wu  3 , Jincheng Zhang  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Review on Main Gate Characteristics of P-Type GaN Gate High-Electron-Mobility Transistors

Zhongxu Wang et al. Micromachines (Basel). .

Abstract

As wide bandgap semiconductors, gallium nitride (GaN) lateral high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) possess high breakdown voltage, low resistance and high frequency performance. PGaN gate HEMTs are promising candidates for high-voltage, high-power applications due to the normally off operation and robust gate reliability. However, the threshold and gate-breakdown voltages are relatively low compared with Si-based and SiC-based power MOSFETs. The epitaxial layers and device structures were optimized to enhance the main characteristics of pGaN HEMTs. In this work, various methods to improve threshold and gate-breakdown voltages are presented, such as the top-layer optimization of the pGaN cap, hole-concentration enhancement, the low-work-function gate electrode, and the MIS-type pGaN gate. The discussion of the main gate characteristic enhancement of p-type GaN gate HEMTs would accelerate the development of GaN power electronics to some extent.

Keywords: breakdown field; gallium nitride; gate-breakdown voltage; p-type doped gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistor (p-GaN HEMT); threshold voltage.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structural diagram of p-GaN HEMT device. Adapted from Ref. [14].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Traditional p-AlGaN HEMT device and its (a) structural diagram and (b) transfer characteristic curve [16]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [16]. 2007, IEEE.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Structural diagram and (b) transfer characteristic curve of the p-GaN HEMT device with back barrier [18]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [18]. 2011, IEEE.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) Structural diagram and (b) transfer characteristic curve of p-GaN HEMT device adopting gate-first process [20]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [20]. 2018, IEEE.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) Structural diagram and (b) transfer characteristic curve of p-GaN HEMT device with gate–source bridge [22]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [22]. 2013, IEEE.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) Structural diagram and (b) transfer characteristic curve of p-GaN HEMT device with gate–source bridge [22]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [22]. 2013, IEEE.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Transfer characteristic curve of p-GaN HEMT device with tungsten gate [24]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [24]. 2013, IEEE.
Figure 7
Figure 7
p-GaN HEMT device and (a) its transfer characteristic curve and (b) the curve of specific on-resistance varying with Mg2+ concentration [8]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [8]. 2016, IEEE.
Figure 8
Figure 8
p-GaN HEMT device (a) adopting hydrogen plasma processing and (b) its transfer characteristic curve [26]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [26]. 2018, IEEE.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Gate–source bridge p-GaN HEMT device and (a) its vertical view, (b) three-dimensional structural diagram, and (c) transfer characteristic curves of p-FET bridges with different depths of recessed gate [27]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [27]. 2020, IEEE.
Figure 10
Figure 10
P-GaN HEMT device with fluorographene and titanium fabricated gate and its (a) structural diagram and (b) characteristic curves demonstrating gate-breakdown voltage and gate-leakage current [29]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [29]. 2019, IEEE.
Figure 10
Figure 10
P-GaN HEMT device with fluorographene and titanium fabricated gate and its (a) structural diagram and (b) characteristic curves demonstrating gate-breakdown voltage and gate-leakage current [29]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [29]. 2019, IEEE.
Figure 11
Figure 11
MIS p-GaN HEMT structural diagram. Adapted from Ref. [31].
Figure 12
Figure 12
Oxygen plasma-processed p-GaN HEMT device and its (a) structural diagram and (b) characteristic curves of gate-breakdown voltage [32]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [32]. 2021, IEEE.
Figure 13
Figure 13
P–n junction HEMT device and its (a) structural diagram and (b) lifetime prediction of gate-breakdown voltage [33]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [33]. 2020, IEEE.
Figure 14
Figure 14
(a) Structural diagram and (c) transfer curves of in situ AlN/p-GaN gate HEMT device, (b) transfer curve of conventional p-GaN gate HEMT, and (d) transfer curves comparison [34]. Reprinted/adapted with permission from Ref. [34]. 2023, IEEE.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Tsou C.W., Kang H.C., Lian Y.W., Shawn S.H. AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on silicon with hybrid Schottky-ohmic drain for RF applications. IEEE Trans. Electron Devices. 2016;23:4218–4221. doi: 10.1109/TED.2016.2605128. - DOI
    1. Wang F., Chen W., Li X., Sun R., Xu X., Xin Y., Wang Z., Shi Y., Xia Y., Liu C. Charge storage impact on input capacitance in p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN power high-electron-mobility transistors. J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 2020;53:305106. doi: 10.1088/1361-6463/ab86e7. - DOI
    1. Wang F., Chen W., Xu X., Sun R., Wang Z., Xia Y., Xin Y., Zhou Q., Zhang B. Simulation study of an ultralow switching loss p-GaN gate HEMT with dynamic charge storage mechanism. IEEE Trans. Electron Devices. 2021;68:175–183. doi: 10.1109/TED.2020.3036325. - DOI
    1. Chen K.J., Häberlen O., Lidow A., Lin C., Ueda T., Uemoto Y., Wu Y. GaN-on-Si power technology: Devices and applications. IEEE Trans. Electron Devices. 2017;64:779–795. doi: 10.1109/TED.2017.2657579. - DOI
    1. Kwon W., Kawasaki S., Watanabe H., Tanaka A., Honda Y., Ikeda H., Iso K., Amano H. Reverse leakage mechanism of dislocation-free GaN vertical p-n diodes. IEEE Electron Device Lett. 2023;44:1172–1175. doi: 10.1109/LED.2023.3274306. - DOI