Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Wei-Min Wu, Shih-Hung Chen, Chun-An Shih, Bertrand Parvais, Nadine Collaert, Ming-Dou Ker, Tian-Li Wu, Guido Groeseneken
Summary: Gallium nitride (GaN)-on-Si technologies for advanced RF applications have been drawing attention in the semiconductor industry, along with challenges in RF electrostatic discharge (ESD) reliability. Investigating both positive and negative ESD stress polarities is equally important. In this study, four scenarios of positive and negative human body model (HBM) stresses were conducted on GaN-on-Si (MIS-HEMTs) with gate-tied-to-source and gate-tied-to-drain configurations. It was found that the negative GS MIS-HEMT exhibited a failure mechanism different from the constant-power 2DEG failure mechanism in the typical positive GS (MIS-HEMT).
IEEE ELECTRON DEVICE LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Yijun Shi, Yiqiang Chen, Yun Huang, Zhiyuan He, Wanjun Chen, Ruize Sun, Bin Yao, Hongyue Wang, Qingzhong Xiao, Guoguang Lu, Bo Zhang
Summary: In this study, a novel GaN electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection clamp is proposed to enhance the ESD reliability of the conventional p-GaN HEMT. The proposed clamp features a low triggering voltage and can withstand a high second breakdown current, effectively discharging and protecting the transient electrostatic charges on the gate structure.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Wei-Min Wu, Ming-Dou Ker, Shih-Hung Chen, Arturo Sibaja-Hernandez, Sachin Yadav, Uthayasankaran Peralagu, Hao Yu, AliReza Alian, Vamsi Putcha, Bertrand Parvais, Nadine Collaert, Guido Groeseneken
Summary: Gallium nitride (GaN) technologies play an important role in commercial advanced RF systems, but face challenges in reliability due to electrostatic discharge (ESD). A mis-correlation between standard-defined human body model (HBM) ESD robustness and commonly used transmission line pulse (TLP) failure current was observed in GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). A discharge model is proposed to explain the mechanism, and simulations confirm that the mis-correlation is due to 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) resistance modulation in response to HBM ESD transient voltage waveforms.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Jiawei Chen, Junbo Liu, Wensong Zou, Jun Ma
Summary: This work reports on human-body-model and transmission-line-pulse electronic static discharge in lateral GaN-on-Si schottky barrier diodes. The study observed a single failure in reverse tests and two-step breakdowns in forward HBM and TLP tests. The results provide insights into the ESD reliability of GaN SBDs and can help improve their performance in various applications.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Houqiang Fu, Kai Fu, Srabanti Chowdhury, Tomas Palacios, Yuji Zhao
Summary: This comprehensive review discusses the recent progress in vertical GaN power devices, focusing on device design principles and fabrication processes. It covers basic structures, fabrication processes, and device physics, including materials and device engineering aspects. Key topics such as avalanche breakdown and leakage mechanisms are also discussed, providing valuable information for researchers and inspiring future interdisciplinary collaborations.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
M. Fregolent, M. Boito, A. Marcuzzi, C. De Santi, F. Chiocchetta, E. Bahat Treidel, M. Wolf, F. Brunner, O. Hilt, J. Wuerfl, G. Meneghesso, E. Zanoni, M. Meneghini
Summary: This paper reports on the isolation properties and failure mechanism of n-type vertical Pt / n-GaN Schottky barrier diodes and the dependence on the drift layer doping concentration. The results indicate that the Schottky barrier height is lower than expected, regardless of the doping density, limiting the blocking properties of the junction. The barrier lowering is associated with an injection mechanism involving deep levels in the semiconductor layer near the junction, facilitating carrier injection and tunneling. Furthermore, the failure of the devices in reverse bias condition is attributed to a power-related mechanism associated with current flowing along the mesa edges. Therefore, a good edge termination and passivation of the surfaces are essential for fully exploiting the blocking capability of the semiconductor.
MICROELECTRONICS RELIABILITY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Ming Xiao, Yunwei Ma, Kai Liu, Kai Cheng, Yuhao Zhang
Summary: This study demonstrates multi-channel AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes with a breakthrough voltage over 10 kV and proposes a novel device design for electric field management, showing the great promise of GaN in the field of medium- and high-voltage power electronics.
IEEE ELECTRON DEVICE LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Avinash Lahgere, Dhruv Shikhar Gupta
Summary: This paper presents the use of calibrated 2-D simulations to explore the application of bipolar impact ionization MOS (BIMOS) in electrostatic discharge (ESD) design. By grounding the gate of the BIMOS, a gate grounded BIMOS (GGBIMOS) ESD device is created, which exhibits a low trigger voltage and high hold voltage and has been validated through human body model (HBM) simulation. Therefore, these results provide a foundation for future ESD design based on BIMOS devices.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Xinke Liu, Feng Lin, Jian Li, Yuheng Lin, Junye Wu, Haofan Wang, Xiaohua Li, Shuangwu Huang, Qi Wang, Hsien-Chin Chiu, Hao-Chung Kuo
Summary: This article demonstrates high-performance vertical gallium nitride Schottky barrier diodes with helium-implanted edge termination structure, which increase the breakdown voltage by reducing the electric field crowding effect.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jakub Kierdaszuk, Ewelina Rozbiega, Karolina Pietak, Sebastian Zlotnik, Aleksandra Przewloka, Aleksandra Krajewska, Wawrzyniec Kaszub, Maria Kaminska, Andrzej Wysmolek, Johannes Binder, Aneta Drabinska
Summary: The study demonstrates effective gating of graphene at low bias using four-layered graphene/gallium nitride (GaN) Schottky diodes and undoped GaN spacer, suggesting their potential for applications. The observed Raman G band position shift and splitting indicate turbostratic layer stacking and high potential gradient near the Schottky junction. Analysis based on electroreflectance measurements and a modified Richardson equation confirms graphene behavior as a capacitor at reverse bias on n-GaN separated by an undoped GaN spacer.
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Zhaoheng Yan, Song Yuan, Xi Jiang, Chaofan Deng, Zhenjiang Pang, Xiaosong Bu, Haimin Hong, Xiaowu Gong, Yue Hao
Summary: This article presents a temperature sensor based on a partial p-GaN cap layer and a semicircular T-anode AlGaN/gallium nitride (GaN) Schottky barrier diode (PCT-SBD). The PCT-SBD uses a p-GaN layer and a semicircular T-anode to enlarge and adjust the position of the subthreshold region. This structure enabled better integration with AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) and improved the measurement accuracy of heterojunction temperature. The PCT-SBD temperature sensor exhibited great temperature sensitivity, reaching a maximum of 2.54 mV/K under 2.04 A/cm(2) in the subthreshold region, which is approximately twice the temperature sensitivity of a regular GaN Schottky barrier diode (SBD) temperature sensor. Moreover, the device maintained good linearity, low turn-on voltage, and low reverse leakage current. The AlGaN/GaN PCT-SBD shows good potential in integrating with GaN-based power devices for temperature sensor applications.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Feng Zhou, Weizong Xu, Fangfang Ren, Dong Zhou, Dunjun Chen, Rong Zhang, Youdou Zheng, Tinggang Zhu, Hai Lu
Summary: A quasi-vertical GaN junction barrier Schottky diode on low-cost sapphire substrate was successfully demonstrated, exhibiting excellent performance attributes such as low reverse leakage, high breakdown voltage, and fast switching capability. Improved heat dissipation techniques enable the diode to achieve high current rectification levels, high power efficiency, and low case temperatures.
IEEE ELECTRON DEVICE LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Tao Zhang, Yanni Zhang, Jincheng Zhang, Xiangdong Li, Yueguang Lv, Yue Hao
Summary: This work presents a high-performance lateral GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) diode with a low turn-on voltage of 0.32 V, supported by in-depth theoretical calculations on current transport mechanisms and a forward conduction model. The coexistence of direct tunneling (DT) and thermionic emission (TE) contributes to the low subthreshold swing (SS), while a 1.8 nm thick Al2O3 interlayer effectively suppresses reverse leakage.
IEEE ELECTRON DEVICE LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Houqiang Fu, Kai Fu, Srabanti Chowdhury, Tomas Palacios, Yuji Zhao
Summary: The article discusses the design principles, physics, and advanced power rectifiers of vertical gallium nitride (GaN) power devices, as well as the related key fabrication processes and performance metrics analysis. Additionally, it mentions the progress made in critical processes such as selective area doping and regrowth in the fabrication of vertical GaN power devices.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Sihao Chen, Hang Chen, Yingbin Qiu, Chao Liu
Summary: In this study, GaN vertical trench MOS barrier Schottky (TMBS) diodes with embedded p-GaN shielding rings (SRs) were reported, and the impact of different structural parameters of the p-GaN SRs on the breakdown performance of the diodes was systematically investigated. The optimized p-GaN SR parameters significantly improved the breakdown voltage of the vertical TMBS diodes. By varying the doping concentration, thickness, and width of the p-GaN SRs, the electric field distribution and reverse breakdown characteristics of the TMBS diodes can be improved.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Zhicheng Wu, Jacopo Franco, Brecht Truijen, Philippe Roussel, Ben Kaczer, Dimitri Linten, Guido Groeseneken
Summary: A comprehensive investigation was conducted on the hot-carrier-induced interface state generation and its impact on carrier mobility in nMOSFET. The study utilized I-V compact modeling and charge pumping characterization to evaluate the interface state density, with both techniques showing similar power-law time exponents. The results suggest a universal mobility degradation normalization parameter, regardless of factors such as effective oxide thickness or stress temperature.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Wei-Min Wu, Ming-Dou Ker, Shih-Hung Chen, Arturo Sibaja-Hernandez, Sachin Yadav, Uthayasankaran Peralagu, Hao Yu, AliReza Alian, Vamsi Putcha, Bertrand Parvais, Nadine Collaert, Guido Groeseneken
Summary: Gallium nitride (GaN) technologies play an important role in commercial advanced RF systems, but face challenges in reliability due to electrostatic discharge (ESD). A mis-correlation between standard-defined human body model (HBM) ESD robustness and commonly used transmission line pulse (TLP) failure current was observed in GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). A discharge model is proposed to explain the mechanism, and simulations confirm that the mis-correlation is due to 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) resistance modulation in response to HBM ESD transient voltage waveforms.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Zhicheng Wu, Jacopo Franco, Anne Vandooren, Hiroaki Arimura, Lars-Ake Ragnarsson, Philippe Roussel, Ben Kaczer, Dimitri Linten, Nadine Collaert, Guido Groeseneken
Summary: This article proposes a method to improve the reliability of high-k/metal gate structures by inserting defect decoupling layers between SiO2 and HfO2. The study shows that LaSiOx has little impact on carrier mobility, while Al2O3 can improve both positive and negative BTI reliability. Furthermore, the simplified dual gate-stack integration strategy is explored, indicating that the pMOS gate-stack is more tolerant to the presence of a residual LaSiOx layer.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Wen-Chieh Chen, Shih-Hung Chen, Thomas Chiarella, Geert Hellings, Dimitri Linten, Guido Groeseneken
Summary: The electrostatic discharge (ESD) reliability of OFF- and ON-state NMOS field-effect transistors in a bulk FinFET technology is investigated in this study. The study focuses on the impacts of gate pitch (GP) and gate length (L-g) on the epitaxy of source and drain regions. It is found that a large GP leads to nonuniform epitaxy and high power density localization in the device, while a large L-g improves the ESD performance. Additionally, the study reveals that the clamping voltage and ON-resistance of the ON-state NMOSFET are influenced by L-g and GPs, with shorter L-g and the same gate space achieving better ESD performance.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
M. Vandemaele, B. Kaczer, S. Tyaginov, J. Franco, E. Bury, A. Chasin, A. Makarov, G. Hellings, G. Groeseneken
Summary: We simulate the spatial profile of trapped charge in the forksheet FET wall under hot-carrier stress and find that the charge trapping occurs above and below the horizontal projection of the sheet. The charge profile is independent of the sheet width, and the trapping in the forksheet FET wall is significantly smaller than the trapping in the gate stack.
IEEE ELECTRON DEVICE LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Wei-Min Wu, Shih-Hung Chen, Chun-An Shih, Bertrand Parvais, Nadine Collaert, Ming-Dou Ker, Tian-Li Wu, Guido Groeseneken
Summary: Gallium nitride (GaN)-on-Si technologies for advanced RF applications have been drawing attention in the semiconductor industry, along with challenges in RF electrostatic discharge (ESD) reliability. Investigating both positive and negative ESD stress polarities is equally important. In this study, four scenarios of positive and negative human body model (HBM) stresses were conducted on GaN-on-Si (MIS-HEMTs) with gate-tied-to-source and gate-tied-to-drain configurations. It was found that the negative GS MIS-HEMT exhibited a failure mechanism different from the constant-power 2DEG failure mechanism in the typical positive GS (MIS-HEMT).
IEEE ELECTRON DEVICE LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
K. Kaczmarek, M. Garcia Bardon, Y. Xiang, N. Ronchi, L. -A. Ragnarsson, U. Celano, K. Banerjee, B. Kaczer, G. Groeseneken, J. Van Houdt
Summary: We investigate the origins of threshold voltage (V-TH) variability in planar ferroelectric FETs (FeFETs) by considering both process variations and source-drain channel percolation. By using a percolation-aware physics-based multidomain FeFET model, we are able to accurately capture the measured V-TH statistics across various channel dimensions in fabricated devices. Our findings suggest that the bimodal V-TH distribution observed in large devices can be explained by percolation, while the transition to a monomodal distribution in scaled devices is qualitatively reproduced by the overlapping Pelgrom-type and percolative variabilities in the model. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the percolation-related FeFET V-TH variability is minimized when the channel aspect ratio is equal to 1 in terms of device geometry.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Michiel Vandemaele, Ben Kaczer, Erik Bury, Jacopo Franco, Adrian Chasin, Alexander Makarov, Hans Mertens, Geert Hellings, Guido Groeseneken
Summary: We present TCAD simulation studies on the hot-carrier reliability of nanowire (NW), nanosheet (NS), and forksheet (FS) FETs. The simulations involve solving the Boltzmann transport equation, calculating interface state generation and bulk defect charging, and evaluating the impact of generated/trapped charges on FET characteristics. We discuss the models used in hot-carrier simulation flows, anneal measurements, and validate the simulation models by comparing with NW FET measurements, providing insights for NS and FS FETs.
2023 IEEE INTERNATIONAL RELIABILITY PHYSICS SYMPOSIUM, IRPS
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
S. Abhinay, W. -M. Wu, C. -A. Shih, S. -H. Chen, A. Sibaja-Hernandez, B. Parvais, U. Peralagu, A. Alian, T. -L. Wu, M. -D. Ker, G. Groeseneken, N. Collaert
Summary: This paper presents an extensive experimental study and simulations on the impact of different stress scenarios on the ESD robustness of GaN RF HEMTs. The study highlights the importance of different current discharge paths for each stress scenario and verifies the contribution of the on-state gate Schottky diode to the robustness of the HEMTs. Additionally, three types of HBM failure mechanisms are identified under different stress scenarios.
2022 INTERNATIONAL ELECTRON DEVICES MEETING, IEDM
(2022)
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Michiel Vandemaele, Ben Kaczer, Stanislav Tyaginov, Erik Bury, Adrian Chasin, Jacopo Franco, Alexander Makarov, Hans Mertens, Geert Hellings, Guido Groeseneken
Summary: Forksheet (FS) FETs are a new transistor architecture that utilizes vertically stacked nFET and pFET sheets with a dielectric wall, reducing p-to-n separation. Hot-carrier degradation (HCD) simulations show that both FS FETs and NS FETs can reduce HCD with increasing sheet width when considering interface state generation. Furthermore, an initial assessment suggests that the impact of oxide defect charging in the FS wall can be controlled under operating conditions.
2022 IEEE INTERNATIONAL RELIABILITY PHYSICS SYMPOSIUM (IRPS)
(2022)
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Ping-Yi Hsieh, Artemisia Tsiara, Barry O'Sullivan, Didit Yudistira, Marina Baryshnikova, Guido Groeseneken, Bernardette Kunert, Marianna Pantouvaki, Joris Van Campenhout, Ingrid De Wolf
Summary: This study reports for the first time a reliability study on degradation of InGaAs/GaAs nano-ridge p-i-n diodes monolithically integrated on Si by nano-ridge engineering (NRE). The results show that current crowding and Joule heating near the p-contact are responsible for the degradation in forward bias region, while the electrical stress-induced leakage current indicates the degradation of crystal quality in reverse bias region. The study also demonstrates that a sintering process can lower the p-contact resistance and improve electrical stability, and the high aspect-ratio of the trenches leads to effective threading dislocation trapping.
2022 IEEE INTERNATIONAL RELIABILITY PHYSICS SYMPOSIUM (IRPS)
(2022)
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
W-M Wu, S-H Chen, A. Sibaja-Hernandez, S. Yadav, U. Peralagu, H. Yu, A. Alian, V Putcha, B. Parvais, G. Groeseneken, M-D Ker, N. Collaert
Summary: In this study, an extensive experimental and simulation investigation was conducted to understand the ESD failure mechanisms in RF GaN-on-Si (MIS)HEMTs. It was observed that there is a mis-correlation between the standard-defined HBM ESD robustness and commonly used TLP failure current in GaN (MIS)HEMTs. A novel discharge model was proposed to explain the transient discharge mechanism, which was confirmed by TCAD and SPICE simulations to be attributed to 2DEG channel resistance modulation in response to HBM ESD transient voltage waveforms.
2021 IEEE INTERNATIONAL ELECTRON DEVICES MEETING (IEDM)
(2021)
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Zhicheng Wu, Jacopo Franco, Brecht Truijen, Philippe Roussel, Stanislav Tyaginov, Michiel Vandemaele, Erik Bury, Guido Groeseneken, Dimitri Linten, Ben Kaczer
Summary: An analytical device aging modelling framework is demonstrated, covering microscopic degradation physics to aged I-V characteristics. Through expanded reliability oriented I-V compact model, proposed analytical solution for channel carrier profiling, and conversion through Poisson's equation, local degradation is propagated into aged I-V characteristics, validated across a wide range of stress conditions in scaled finFET technology.
2021 IEEE INTERNATIONAL RELIABILITY PHYSICS SYMPOSIUM (IRPS)
(2021)
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Michiel Vandemaele, Ben Kaczer, Stanislav Tyaginov, Jacopo Franco, Robin Degraeve, Adrian Chasin, Zhicheng Wu, Erik Bury, Yang Xiang, Hans Mertens, Guido Groeseneken
Summary: This study investigates the impact of localized defect profiles on hot-carrier degradation, analyzing the complex relationship between DP and FET degradation as well as the different degradation caused by the same DP in varying device structures. Additionally, the DP simulations are used to understand qualitatively the DP's dependence on stress voltages in FETs and assess the unique extraction of a DP from degraded I-V metrics. The results have implications for HCD modeling.
2021 IEEE INTERNATIONAL RELIABILITY PHYSICS SYMPOSIUM (IRPS)
(2021)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture
K. Kaczmarek, M. Garcia Bardon, Y. Xiang, L. Breuil, N. Ronchi, B. Parvais, G. Groeseneken, J. van Houdt
Summary: This study utilized a hardware-validated FeFET compact model to predict the V-TH shift on Si:HfO2-FeFETs during Incremental Step Pulse Programming, highlighting the significant impact of the depolarization field across the FE layer on the attainable memory window in multidomain FeFETs.
2021 IEEE INTERNATIONAL MEMORY WORKSHOP (IMW)
(2021)
