III-Nitrides for sensing at high temperatures

There is a significant need for high temperature pressure sensors for applications in aerospace, automotive, chemical processing, nuclear power and petroleum industries. While Si based piezoresistive pressure sensors are one of the most prevalent pressure sensors, due to degradation in their electrical properties related to the generation of thermal carriers and high leakage currents, they are not suitable for applications above 150 degrees C. Higher band-gap materials, including III-Nitrides, are of interest in addressing this application gap at higher temperatures due to their excellent thermal stability and inert nature. To perform both steady state and dynamic pressure measurements, piezoresistive sensors utilizing the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed at the interface of AlGaN/GaN heterojunction, can be utilized. We will discuss potential applications of III-Nitride HEMTs as deflection sensors and high temperature pressure sensors.