Characterization of Electrical Switching Safe Operation Area on Schottky-Type P-GaN Gate HEMTs
Yifei Huang, Qimeng Jiang, Sen Huang, Xinhua Wang, Xinyu Liu
Abstract
Gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have demonstrated their superior performance in consumer electronics. However, their longer-lifetime-demanding application has not been well-explored yet, due to the limited electrical reliability, especially the existence of <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">on</small> -resistance degradation in hard-switching conditions. In this article, four testing modes, including double-pulse testing (DP), continuous hard switching testing (HSW), high-voltage dc stress testing (DC) and recovery testing (RE), are adopted to characterize time-resolved dynamic <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ON</sub> of GaN HEMT devices, based on the multimode evaluation platform. Much higher dynamic <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ON</sub> is obtained by time-resolved characterization, compared with traditional double-pulse testing. The contribution of the dc-stress- or transient-stress-induced dynamic <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ON</sub> is distinguished by our proposed stressing sequence (DC-HSW-DC-RE). Based on the stressing pattern, a novel physical-based characterization method is delivered to identify the irreversible degradation of dynamic <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ON</sub> on GaN power devices, featuring excellent sensitivity for irreversible degradation detection. In addition, lifetime acceleration experiments are conducted, and the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">R</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ON</sub> degradation shows strong dependence on voltage and current, and weak dependence on temperature. Finally, switching safe operation area and switching lifetime are plotted.