Breakdown mechanism in AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor structure on free-standing n-type GaN substrate

The breakdown mechanism in a high-electron mobility transistor structure on free-standing n-type GaN substrates consisting of a C-doped GaN layer as a high-resistivity buffer was investigated with a two-terminal vertical device that has a C-doped GaN buffer between electrodes. Initially, current density increases with the square of bias voltage. This is then followed by an abrupt increase by several orders of magnitude within ten volts, which results in breakdown. These behaviors are consistent with the theory of the space-charge limited current. In this theory, current density increases steeply when trap sites at a certain energy level are completely filled with injected carriers. These results indicate that the existence of trap levels in the C-doped GaN layer is one of the possible factors that determine the breakdown. The trap density and trap level of the C-doped GaN layer were also evaluated. (C) 2016 The Japan Society of Applied Physics