Evaluation of LPCVD SiNx Gate Dielectric Reliability by TDDB Measurement in Si-Substrate-Based AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMT

• Published in: IEEE transactions on electron devices 2018-05, Vol.65 (5), p.1759-1764
• Main Authors: Qi, Yongle, Zhu, Yumeng, Zhang, Jiang, Lin, Xinpeng, Cheng, Kai, Jiang, Lingli, Yu, Hongyu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Constant-voltage stress (CVS); Dielectrics; Gallium nitride; gallium nitride (GaN); HEMTs; Logic gates; metal–insulator–semiconductor high-electron mobility transistor (MIS-HEMT); Reliability; Stress; Temperature measurement; time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB)
• ISSN: 0018-9383; 1557-9646
• DOI: 10.1109/TED.2018.2813985

Si-substrate-based AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility power transistors with low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) SiN x as gate isolation material are fabricated on a 6-in wafer by CMOS compatible process. The dielectric failure by forward-biased constant-voltage stress time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) measurements at various temperatures (from room temperature to 250 °C) and their statistical Weibull analysis are compared. Impact of gate dielectric area and multifinger on the SiN x TDDB characteristics is also discussed. Using thermal microscope imager, the leakage current spots have been identified. The mean time to failure decreases with the increasing finger numbers in exponential form. We also predict the device ( {W}_{G}= {0.25} mm) with 35-nm-thick LPCVD SiN x gate dielectric can survive at a positive gate voltage of {V}_{\text {GS}}= {15} V for a 10-year time-to-breakdown lifetime (100 ppm and {T}= {25} °C) and {V}_{\text {GS}}= {7.5} V for a 10-year time-to-breakdown lifetime (100 ppm and {T}= {250} °C).