Total suppression of dynamic-ron in AlGaN/GaN-HEMTs through proton irradiation

For the first time, we demonstrate that proton irradiation can be an effective tool for achieving zero dynamic-Ron in GaN-based power HEMTs. Based on combined pulsed characterization, transient measurements and hard switching analysis on untreated and irradiated devices we demonstrate the following relevant results: (i) the devices under analysis show an outstanding robustness against 3 MeV proton irradiation, up to a fluence of 1.5×10 14 cm −2 . (ii) For fluences higher than 10 13 cm −2 , the devices show a substantial reduction of dynamic-Ron. At the highest analyzed fluence (1.5×10 14 cm −2 ), dynamic-Ron is completely suppressed at 600 V/150 °C, without measurable changes in the gate and sub-threshold leakage and in the threshold voltage. (iii) transient and hard switching analysis indicate the total suppression of the trap-related transients identified before radiation testing. The results are explained by considering that proton irradiation increases the leakage through the uid-GaN channel layer. This increases the detrapping rate, and leads to the suppression of dynamic-Ron at high VDS.