Study of Hot-Electron Effects, Breakdown and Reliability in FETS, HEMTS, and HBT'S

Abstract

The objective of this project has been the understanding of the physical limitation of GaAs, InP and wide-bandgap semiconductors through experimental and the theoretical evaluation. In particular evaluation of scaling properties, hot electron effects, breakdown phenomena and failure mechanisms in AlGaAs/InGaAs and InAlAs/InGaAs High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMT's) and in InAlAs/InGaAs Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBT's) has been carried out. Physical phenomena studied in this work include: (1) impact ionization; (2) short-channel effects; (3) quantum confinement and real space transfer; (4) failure mechanisms of GaAs- and InP-based devices. Devices adopting wide bandgap semiconductors (SiC) have also been studied. We have studied the impact ionization coefficient in In0.53Ga0.47As material by using a suitable HBT structure. A positive temperature coefficient has been found in this material. Theoretical work has included the development of ionization models for InGaAs layers, and the inclusion of non local ionization effects into drift-diffusion simulators. Hot-electron effects in pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMTs has also been studied. The behaviour of electroluminescence at high fields has been analyzed and the presence of a band-to-band recombination peak has been demonstrated. On the theoretical side, we have used the self consistent HEMT Monte Carlo code to study short channel effects, impact ionization and electroluminescence in pseudomorphic HEMTs GaAs/InGaAs/AlGaAs. The analysis also demonstrate that holes generated by impact-ionization are able to reach the source and recombine there. Accelerated tests at high V(DS) have been carried out both in GaAs- and InP based HEMT's. Permanent degradation resulting in the development of a remarkable "kink" in the output characteristics has been found. DC, pulsed, low-frequency AC and DLTS measurements demonstrate that the failure mechanism consists in the creation of deep levels.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA360832

Entities

People

  • Aldo Di Carlo
  • E. Zanoni
  • Gaudenzio Meneghesso
  • Paolo Lugli

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Band Gaps
  • Band Structures
  • Ceramic Materials
  • Compound Semiconductors
  • Electron Mobility
  • Electronics Laboratories
  • Energy Bands
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Field Effect Transistors
  • Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors
  • High Electron Mobility Transistors
  • Metal-Semiconductor Junctions
  • Power Electronics
  • Semiconductor Devices
  • Semiconductors
  • Silicon Carbide
  • Wide Bandgap Semiconductors

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Quantum Computing
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster