Local stress induced by diamond-like carbon liner in AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor high-electron mobility transistors and impact on electrical characteristics

The device physics of AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor high-electron mobility transistor (MOS-HEMT) with localized stress introduced by a diamond-like carbon (DLC) liner or encapsulation layer was investigated. DLC film with high intrinsic compressive stress (similar to 6 GPa) formed over AlGaN/GaN MOS-HEMTs contributed local compressive stress in the channel region. This was found to reduce the two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG) density in the channel, leading to a positive threshold voltage shift. Transconductance and drain current at a given gate overdrive were also improved. On the other hand, the DLC introduced local tensile stress in the region between the gate and source/drain contacts, leading to a localized increase in 2-DEG density, giving reduced series resistance. The results of this work are expected to be useful for strain engineering of AlGaN/GaN MOS-HEMTs. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3584856]