Ni/Au schottky gate oxidation and BCB passivation for high-breakdown-voltage AlGaN/GaN HEMT

A new AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) employing Ni/Au Schottky gate oxidation and benzocyclobutene (BCB) passivation is fabricated in order to increase a breakdown voltage and forward drain current. The Ni/Au Schottky gate metal with a thickness of 50/300 nm is oxidized under oxygen ambient at 500 degrees C and the highly resistive NiO is formed at the gate edge. The leakage current of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs is decreased from 4.94 mu A to 3.34 nA due to the formation of NiO. The BCB, which has a low dielectric constant, successfully passivates AlGaN/GaN HEMTs by suppressing electron injection into surface states. The BCB passivation layer has a low capacitance, so BCB passivation increases the switching speed of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs compared with silicon nitride passivation, which has a high dielectric constant. The forward drain current of a BCB-passivated device is 199 mA/mm, while that of an unpassivated device is 172 mA/mm due to the increase in two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) charge. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.