Degradation of dynamic ON-resistance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs under proton irradiation

Abstract

SiNx-passivated AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on Si substrates demonstrated high tolerance to 2 MeV proton irradiation, up to a dose of 6 × 1014 cm-2. Radiation-induced changes were observed in Hall mobility, two-dimensional electron gas sheet carrier density, sheet resistance, ON-resistance, transconductance, threshold voltage, and dynamic ON-resistance. Dynamic ON-resistance was measured by pulsing to ON-state from OFF-state quiescent points with drain voltages up to 20 V. The dynamic ON-resistance measured from high OFF-state quiescent voltages was more sensitive to irradiation than the DC and Hall parameters, making the dynamic ON-resistance measurement useful in characterizing radiation-induced degradation.