Breakdown Enhancement of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on 4-in Silicon by Improving the GaN Quality on Thick Buffer Layers

We have achieved a 9-mu m-thick AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT) epilayer on silicon using thick buffer layers with reduced dislocation density (D-D). The crack-free 9-mu m-thick epilayer included 2-mu m i-GaN and 7- mu m buffer. The HEMTs fabricated on these devices showed a maximum drain-current density of 625 mA/mm, transconductance of 190 mS/mm, and a high three-terminal OFF breakdown of 403 V for device dimensions of L-g/W-g/L-gd = 1.5/15/3 mu m. Without using a gate field plate, this is the highest BV reported on an AlGaN/GaN HEMT on silicon for a short L-gd of 3 mu m. A very high BV of 1813 V across 10-mu m ohmic gap was achieved for i-GaN grown on thick buffers. As the thickness of buffer layers increased, the decreased D-D of GaN and increased resistance between surface electrode and substrate yielded a high breakdown.