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Impact of in situ NH3 pre-treatment of LPCVD SiN passivation on GaN HEMT performance

Chen, Ding-Yuan ; Persson, Axel R ; Wen, Kai-Hsin ; Sommer, Daniel ; Grünenpütt, Jan ; Blanck, Hervé ; Thorsell, Mattias ; Kordina, Olof ; Darakchieva, Vanya LU and Persson, Per O Å , et al. (2022) In Semiconductor Science and Technology 37(3).
Abstract
The impact on the performance of GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) of in situ ammonia (NH3)
pre-treatment prior to the deposition of silicon nitride (SiN)
passivation with low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD ) is
investigated. Three different NH3 pre-treatment durations (0,
3, and 10 min) were compared in terms of interface properties and
device performance. A reduction of oxygen (O) at the interface between
SiN and epi-structure is detected by scanning transmission electron
microscopy (STEM )-electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) measurements
in the sample subjected to 10 min of pre-treatment. The samples
subjected to NH3... (More)
The impact on the performance of GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) of in situ ammonia (NH3)
pre-treatment prior to the deposition of silicon nitride (SiN)
passivation with low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD ) is
investigated. Three different NH3 pre-treatment durations (0,
3, and 10 min) were compared in terms of interface properties and
device performance. A reduction of oxygen (O) at the interface between
SiN and epi-structure is detected by scanning transmission electron
microscopy (STEM )-electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) measurements
in the sample subjected to 10 min of pre-treatment. The samples
subjected to NH3 pre-treatment show a reduced surface-related
current dispersion of 9% (compared to 16% for the untreated sample),
which is attributed to the reduction of O at the SiN/epi interface.
Furthermore, NH3 pre-treatment for 10 min significantly
improves the current dispersion uniformity from 14.5% to 1.9%. The
reduced trapping effects result in a high output power of 3.4 W mm−1 at 3 GHz (compared to 2.6 W mm−1 for the untreated sample). These results demonstrate that the in situ NH3
pre-treatment before LPCVD of SiN passivation is critical and can
effectively improves the large-signal microwave performance of GaN
HEMTs. (Less)
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author
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; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
high mobility field effect transistor, structures, GaN, passivation, SiNx
in
Semiconductor Science and Technology
volume
37
issue
3
article number
035011
pages
6 pages
publisher
IOP Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85124213865
ISSN
0268-1242
DOI
10.1088/1361-6641/ac4b17
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6cabd4e6-8325-46c2-8f7d-df3640d2ca82
date added to LUP
2022-12-06 17:40:15
date last changed
2025-10-14 11:31:12
@article{6cabd4e6-8325-46c2-8f7d-df3640d2ca82,
  abstract     = {{The impact on the performance of GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) of <i>in situ</i> ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>)<br>
 pre-treatment prior to the deposition of silicon nitride (SiN) <br>
passivation with low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD ) is <br>
investigated. Three different NH<sub>3</sub> pre-treatment durations (0,<br>
 3, and 10 min) were compared in terms of interface properties and <br>
device performance. A reduction of oxygen (O) at the interface between <br>
SiN and epi-structure is detected by scanning transmission electron <br>
microscopy (STEM )-electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) measurements<br>
 in the sample subjected to 10 min of pre-treatment. The samples <br>
subjected to NH<sub>3</sub> pre-treatment show a reduced surface-related<br>
 current dispersion of 9% (compared to 16% for the untreated sample), <br>
which is attributed to the reduction of O at the SiN/epi interface. <br>
Furthermore, NH<sub>3</sub> pre-treatment for 10 min significantly <br>
improves the current dispersion uniformity from 14.5% to 1.9%. The <br>
reduced trapping effects result in a high output power of 3.4 W mm<sup>−1</sup> at 3 GHz (compared to 2.6 W mm<sup>−1</sup> for the untreated sample). These results demonstrate that the <i>in situ</i> NH<sub>3</sub><br>
 pre-treatment before LPCVD of SiN passivation is critical and can <br>
effectively improves the large-signal microwave performance of GaN <br>
HEMTs.}},
  author       = {{Chen, Ding-Yuan and Persson, Axel R and Wen, Kai-Hsin and Sommer, Daniel and Grünenpütt, Jan and Blanck, Hervé and Thorsell, Mattias and Kordina, Olof and Darakchieva, Vanya and Persson, Per O Å and Chen, Jr-Tai and Rorsman, Niklas}},
  issn         = {{0268-1242}},
  keywords     = {{high mobility field effect transistor; structures; GaN; passivation; SiNx}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{IOP Publishing}},
  series       = {{Semiconductor Science and Technology}},
  title        = {{Impact of <i>in situ</i> NH<sub>3</sub> pre-treatment of LPCVD SiN passivation on GaN HEMT performance}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-6641/ac4b17}},
  doi          = {{10.1088/1361-6641/ac4b17}},
  volume       = {{37}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}