Characteristics of gate leakage current and breakdown voltage of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors after postprocess annealing

The effects of postprocess annealing on the gate leakage current and breakdown voltage characteristics of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) was investigated. The fabricated AlGaN/GaN HEMTs were postannealed at 250, 300, 350, 400, or 450 °C under a nitrogen (N2) atmosphere by using rapid thermal annealing, and both direct current (dc) and pulsed measurements were performed to characterize the changes in device performance. The reverse gate leakage current (IG) at VG = −10 V was reduced by one order of magnitude and the off-state drain breakdown voltage (Voff) increased by over three-fold after postprocess annealing at 450 °C. The reverse gate leakage current was found to be independent of gate-to-drain potential after annealing. The gate pulse measurements revealed the activation of deep traps during the postannealing at elevated temperatures.