Bias-dependence of surface charge at low temperature in GaN self-switching diodes

E. Perez-Martin , I. Iniguez-De-La-Torre , T. Gonzalez , Christophe Gaquière (1, 2) , J. Mateos

1 IEMN - Institut d’Électronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie - UMR 8520
2 PUISSANCE - IEMN - Puissance - IEMN

In this work, with the help of a semi-classical two-dimensional Monte Carlo (MC) simulator, we study the DC current-voltage curves of Self-Switching Diodes (SSDs) fabricated on an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure from 100 K up to room temperature. Due to the very narrow channel of the SSDs, the presence of surface effects plays a key role not only on their DC behavior but also on their RF detection performance. The evolution with temperature of the negative surface charge density σ at the etched sidewalls of the SSD is the key quantity to explain the measurements. At 300 K, MC simulations with a constant value of σ are able to replicate very satisfactorily the experiments. However, to reproduce the shape of the I-V curve at low temperatures, a more realistic approach, where σ depends not only on T, but also on the applied bias V, is necessary.

Mots clés: Gallium Nitride; Monte Carlo simulation; Self-Switching Diode; surface effects

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

E. Perez-Martin, I. Iniguez-De-La-Torre, T. Gonzalez, Christophe Gaquière, J. Mateos. Bias-dependence of surface charge at low temperature in GaN self-switching diodes. 13th Spanish Conference on Electron Devices, CDE 2021, Jun 2021, Sevilla, Spain. pp.90-93, ⟨10.1109/CDE52135.2021.9455737⟩. ⟨hal-03362256⟩