High Field Effects of GaN HEMTs

This report represents the completion of a Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program to develop and fabricate geometric test structures for the measurement of transport properties in bulk GaN and AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. A large part of this study was spent examining fabrication issues related to the test structures used in these measurements, due to the fact that GaN processing is still in its infancy. One such issue had to do with surface passivation. Test samples without a surface passivation, often failed at electric fields below 50 kV/cm, due to surface breakdown. A silicon nitride passivation layer of approximately 200 nm was used to reduce the effects of surface states and premature surface breakdown. Another issue was finding quality contacts for the material, especially in the case of the AlGaN/GaN heterostructure samples. Poor contact performance in the heterostructures plagued the test structures with lower than expected velocities due to carrier injection from the contacts themselves. Using a titanium-rich ohmic contact reduced the contact resistance and stopped the carrier injection. The final test structures had an etch constriction with