Effects of AlGaN Back Barrier on AlN/GaN-on-Silicon High-Electron-Mobility Transistors

In this work, the effects of an AlGaN back barrier in the dc and RF performances of AlN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown on 100 mm Si substrates have been investigated. It is shown that the outstanding dc performance in highly scaled AlN/GaN-on-Si HEMTs can be fully preserved when introducing an AlGaN back barrier while significantly reducing the sub-threshold drain leakage current and enhancing the RF performance by the reduction of short-channel effects. Therefore, the AlN/GaN/AlGaN double heterostructure enables high-aspect-ratio devices generating extremely high current density, low leakage current, and high voltage operation. (C) 2011 The Japan Society of Applied Physics