Study on III-Nitride Based MIS-Transistors with Low-loss and High-breakdown voltage Characteristics

• Project/Area Number: 25420328
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Electron device/Electronic equipment
• Research Institution: University of Fukui
• Principal Investigator: Kuzuhara Masaaki 福井大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (20377469)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TOKUDA HIROKUNI 福井大学, 大学院工学研究科, 特命助教 (10625932)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2015)
• Budget Amount: ¥5,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,200,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥2,730,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥630,000)
• Keywords: 窒化物半導体 / HEMT / MOSFET / ゲート絶縁膜 / パッシベーション / 耐圧 / 電流コラプス / パワーデバイス / 表面保護膜 / トランジスタ / ＭＩＳ / ゲート電流 / ヘテロ接合

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this work is to develop AlGaN/GaN MIS HEMTs with a low reverse gate leakage current and a suppressed increase in dynamic on-resistance. It was found that ALD-deposited composite layers of Al2O3 and ZrO2 were effective as an MIS gate insulator.
We then studied surface passivation films, such as SiN, SiON, and SiO2, in terms of improvement in current collapse characteristics. It was found that SiN or SiO2 film was effective to reduce dynamic on-resistance in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. In addition, we found that more significant reduction in current collapse was achievable by introducing O2 plasma treatment before surface passivation film deposition. The fabricated MIS-HEMT with separately optimized gate insulator and passivation film demonstrated very promising breakdown characteristics of more than 2 kV with a very reduced gate leakage current.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Current Collapse Reduction in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs by High-Pressure Water Vapor Annealing (2015)
  • Author(s): Joel T. Asubar, Yohei Kobayashi, Koji Yoshitsugu, Zenji Yatabe, Hirokuni Tokuda, Masahiro Horita; Yukiharu Uraoka, Tamotsu Hashizume, Masaaki Kuzuhara
  • Journal Title: IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices Volume: 62 Issue: 8 Pages: 2423-2428
  • DOI: 10.1109/ted.2015.2440442
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Impact of oxygen plasma treatment on the dynamic on-resistance of AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility (2015)
  • Author(s): Joel T. Asubar, Yoshiki Sakaida, Satoshi Yoshidai, Zenji Yatabe, Hirokuni Tokuda, Tamotsu Hashizume, Masaaki Kuzuhara
  • Journal Title: Applied Physics Express Volume: 8 Issue: 11 Pages: 1110011-4
  • DOI: 10.7567/apex.8.111001
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] ZrO2/Al2O3積層膜をゲート絶縁膜に用いたn-GaN MISダイオードの比誘電率と界面特性 (2015)
  • Author(s): 樹神 真太郎、徳田 博邦、葛原 正明
  • Journal Title: 電子情報通信学会 和文論文誌C Volume: Vol. J98-C Pages: 27-33
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Low-Loss and High-Voltage III-Nitride Transistors for Power Switching Applications (2015)
  • Author(s): 1.M. Kuzuhara, and H. Tokuda
  • Journal Title: IEEE Trans. Electron Devices Volume: 62 Issue: 2 Pages: 405-413
  • DOI: 10.1109/ted.2014.2359055
  • NAID: 120005541053
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Reduced gate leakage and high thermal stability of AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs using ZrO2/Al2O3 gate dielectric stack (2014)
  • Author(s): 2. M. Hatano, Y. Taniguchi, S. Kodama, H. Tokuda, and M. Kuzuhara
  • Journal Title: Applied Physics Express Volume: 7 Issue: 4 Pages: 44101-44101
  • DOI: 10.7567/apex.7.044101
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] GaN-based Heterojunction FETs for Power Applications (2016)
  • Author(s): M. Kuzuhara
  • Organizer: China Semiconductor Technology International Conference 2016
  • Place of Presentation: Shanghai, China
  • Year and Date: 2016-03-13
  • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
• [Presentation] GaN-based HEMTs for High-voltage and Low-loss Power Applications (2015)
  • Author(s): M. Kuzuhara, J. T. Asubar, and H. Tokuda
  • Organizer: 46 th IEEE Semiconductor Interface Specialists Conf.
  • Place of Presentation: Washington D.C., USA
  • Year and Date: 2015-12-02
  • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
• [Presentation] Highly Reduced Current Collapse in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs by Combined (2015)
  • Author(s): J. T. Asubar, S. Yoshida, H. Tokuda, and M. Kuzuhara
  • Organizer: SSDM 2015
  • Place of Presentation: Sapporo, Japan
  • Year and Date: 2015-09-27
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Characterization and Reduction of Current Collapse in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs (2015)
  • Author(s): M. Kuzuhara, J. T. Asubar, and H. Tokuda
  • Organizer: 2015 German-Japanese-Spanish Joint Workshop
  • Place of Presentation: Kyoto, Japan
  • Year and Date: 2015-07-12
  • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
• [Presentation] GaN-based Power Devices (2015)
  • Author(s): M. Kuzuhara, J. T. Asubar, and H. Tokuda
  • Organizer: EM-NANO 2015
  • Place of Presentation: Niigata, Japan
  • Year and Date: 2015-06-16
  • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
• [Presentation] Electrical characterization of stepped AlGaN/GaN heterostructures (2015)
  • Author(s): S. Kodama, J. T. Asubar, H. Tokuda, S. Nakazawa, M. Ishida, T. Ueda, and M. Kuzuhara
  • Organizer: WOCSDICE 2015
  • Place of Presentation: Smolenice, Slovakia
  • Year and Date: 2015-06-08
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Current Collapse in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with a GaN Cap Layer (2015)
  • Author(s): S. Yoshida, Y. Sakaida, J. T. Asubar, H. Tokuda, and M. Kuzuhara
  • Organizer: IEEE IMFEDK 2015
  • Place of Presentation: Kyoto, Japan
  • Year and Date: 2015-06-04
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Suppressed Current Collapse in High Pressure Water Vapor Annealed AlGaN/GaN HEMTs (2015)
  • Author(s): Y. Kobayashi, J. T. Asubar, K. Yoshitsugu, H. Tokuda, M. Horita, Y. Uraoka, and M. Kuzuhara
  • Organizer: CS-MANTECH 2015
  • Place of Presentation: Arizona, USA
  • Year and Date: 2015-05-18
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Correlation between Luminescence and Current Collapse in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs (2015)
  • Author(s): S. Ohi, Y. Sakaida, J. T. Asubar, H. Tokuda, and M. Kuzuhara
  • Organizer: CS-MANTECH 2015
  • Place of Presentation: Arizona, USA
  • Year and Date: 2015-05-18
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Analysis of time dependent current collapse in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs (2014)
  • Author(s): R. Maeta, H. Tokuda, and M. Kuzuhara
  • Organizer: ASDAM 2014
  • Place of Presentation: スロバキア
  • Year and Date: 2014-10-22
• [Presentation] Challenges of GaN-based transistors for power electronics applications (2014)
  • Author(s): M. Kuzuhara, and H. Tokuda
  • Organizer: AWAD 2014
  • Place of Presentation: 金沢
  • Year and Date: 2014-07-01
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Interface Properties of n-GaN MIS Diodes with ZrO2/Al2O3 Laminated Films as a Gate Insulator (2014)
  • Author(s): S. Kodama, H. Tokuda, and M. Kuzuhara
  • Organizer: IMFEDK2014
  • Place of Presentation: 京都
  • Year and Date: 2014-06-19
• [Presentation] Improved current collapse in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs by O2 plasma treatment (2014)
  • Author(s): Y. Sakaida, H. Tokuda, and M. Kuzuhara
  • Organizer: CS-MANTECH
  • Place of Presentation: 米国、コロラド
  • Year and Date: 2014-05-21
• [Remarks] 福井大学 葛原研究室
  • URL: http://fuee.u-fukui.ac.jp/~kuzuhara/index.html