2019 International Conference on Robotics,Electrical and Signal Processing Techniques (ICREST)

Design and Characterization of 2DEG Structure of a

Gallium Nitride HEMT
Jahid Chowdhury Choton Afshana Begum Jibesh Kanti Saha
Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Dept. of Electrical and Electronic
Engineering Engineering Engineering
Shahjalal University of Science and Shahjalal University of Science and Shahjalal University of Science and
Technology Technology Technology
Sylhet, Bangladesh Sylhet, Bangladesh Sylhet, Bangladesh
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract—In this work we introduced 2DEG (2-Dimentional

Electron Gas) structure of a Gallium Nitride (GaN) High II. ADVANTAGES OF GAN
Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) and compared it with a The superiorities of Gallium Nitride will briefly discuss
conventional structure. 2DEG structure is a heterostructure in this section. The following table shows comparison of
which is formed by combination of group III-IV elements. Our Gallium Nitride (GaN) with different semiconductor materials
proposed GaN HEMT can be employed for high speed, high
for different parameters [7].
power, and high voltage applications. For high power
applications we used SOD (Silicon-On-Diamond) technology to
transfer heat to the substrate. This research paper will present TABLE I. COMPARTISION OF GAN WITH OTHER SEMICONDUCTOR
design of two models using SILVACO TCAD device simulation MATERIALS
software. One is the design of 2DEG structure and another one
is the conventional structure of Aluminium Gallium Property GaN SiC GaAs Si
Nitride/Gallium Nitride (AlGaN/GaN) HEMT. Band Gap
3.4 3.2 1.4 1.1
(eV)
Keywords— GaN, AlGaN, HEMT, 2DEG, SILVACO,
Power
heterojunction, heterostructure, SOD 7 4 1-1.5 0.8
Density
Breakdown
I. INTRODUCTION 4x106 2-4x106 4-5x105 3x105
Electric Field
The wide-ranging band gap semiconductors, such as, (V/cm)
Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC), have been
Electron Mobility
just paid special consideration as the next generation of power 1350 370 6000 1100
(cm/Vs)
semiconductors, which can substitute silicon (Si) devices.
These are recognized as group III–V nitride semiconductors, Dielectric
9.5 9.7 12.9 11.8
including band gap one order of greater magnitude than Constant
Silicon [1]. Gallium Nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC)
devices have conduction resistance considerably lower than Thermal
1.3 3.7 0.5 1.5
Silicon devices [2]. GaN-established HEMT devices exhibit Conductivity
excessive potential for power switching applications [3]. GaN Expansion
HEMTs perform proficiently in high temperature, high power 3.2x10-6 2.4x10-6 6x10-6 3.6x10-6
Coefficient
and high frequency applications because of their high electron
velocity, high breakdown voltage and low leakage current [4].
Chen proposed a novel model named DynaFET for GaN From the Table I we can clearly see the GaN has-
HEMT, which can provide comparatively enhanced • High breakdown field.
performance in both device and circuit level [5]. It is 10 times more than Si or GaAs and devices are smaller
with high impedances.
The necessities of power devices and semiconductor
materials are rapidly increasing with the development of • Low Dielectric Constant.
modern technology. To satisfy the need for high-performance It has almost half dielectric constant than Si or GaAs
demand, researchers have to discover novel materials and resulting in reduced intrinsic junction capacitance.
invent different device structures [6]. • High Power Density.
Its power density is 2-10 times more than Si or GaAs and has
In this paper an advanced structure of Gallium Nitride good thermal conductivity
High Electron Mobility Transistor is designed and also some • Increased Frequency Response.
simulation data of the HEMT is illustrated. This is a The GaN has increased frequency response and lower
heterostructure which is named as 2DEG (2-Dimentional capacitance than other materials.
Electron Gas) AlGaN/GaN HEMT. From the simulations,
there is an analogy between the conventional structure of GaN Also GaN HEMT has excellent saturated electron velocity of
HEMT and this advanced structure. In the advanced structure about 2.7x107 cm/s which is highest among standard
we also used SOD (Silicon-On-Diamond) technology for high semiconductor devices.
power applications.

978-1-5386-8014-8/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE

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 2019 International Conference on Robotics,Electrical and Signal Processing Techniques (ICREST)

III. DEVICE STRUCTURE generates formulas which coordinate with prevailing data,
physically established simulation forecasts device execution
A. HEMT and AlGaN/GaN HEMT established on bias conditions and physical structure. To
HEMT is a heterostructure FET including a junction acquire precision, the program have to include the proper
between two materials with dissimilar band gaps as the physics by the use of numerical procedures [9]. A short
channel as a substitute of doped region. The idiosyncratic explanation of those processes are given in the following
characteristic of AlGaN/GaN HEMT is the heterostructure in section.
which the extensive energy band gap material (AlGaN) is
doped, and carriers disperse to the undoped taper band gap A. Simulation Models
material (GaN) where the channel is established. Also, carriers To execute device simulation for GaN HEMT, ATLASTM
in the undoped heteroterminal are dimensionally separated employs Boltzmann statistics for describing carrier statistics.
from the doped region for this modulation doping and have For perfectly modeling III-V semiconductors, ATLASTM uses
exceedingly high mobilities because there is no contamination the BLAZETM function addition which alters computations
scattering. that include energy bands at heterojunctions.
The GaN and AlGaN region forms heterojunction as 1) Boltzmann Approximation of Electron Probability:
shown in the Fig. 1. The AlGaN layer supports in the The Fermi-Dirac statistical formula for designing non-
polarization of GaN region. The polarization produce excess degenerate semiconductor can be expressed approximately in
free dynamic electrons in the GaN layer. The electrons
(1).
congregate near AlGaN but do not stay in it because of the
material’s wider bandgap which acts as a barricade. Therefore,
an impenetrable two dimensional gas (2DEG) of electrons f(E) = exp(Ef − E/kT) (1)
directly forms in the GaN, very adjacent to the frontier with
the AlGaN. The energy band diagram and formation of 2DEG This offers the prospect of a vacant electron state with
is shown in Fig. 2 [8]. energy E is engaged by an free moving electron. Here Ef is
denoted as the Fermi energy level, k is the Boltzmann’s
constant, and the temperature is denoted by T. This principle
is employed for derivations which explain the intrinsic carrier
congregation, the effective density of states, and the energy
band gap [9].
2) Miscellanious: Numerous equations are not discussed
here but they are materialize in the SILVACO Software
Manual [10]. Relevant or nececerrary ones for this research
contain the energy balance equations, mobility model, carrier
recombination-generation models, and carrier temperature
dependent mobility [9].
3) Solution Convergence: ATLASTM utilizes these
Fig. 1. Structure of AlGaN/GaN HEMT
equations just as it endeavor to get explanations of carrier
parameters for example carrier concentrations ,current across
the electrodes, and electric fields all over the device.
ATLASTM organizes the equations with an inceptive
consideration for variable values then repeats via variables to
rectify deviations. ATLASTM on the other hand will employ
a decoupled (Gummel) methodology or a coupled (Newton)
methodology to get an satisfactory correlation of values.
When concurrence of satisfactory values does not take place,
the program spontaneously minimizes the repeatation step
size. [10].
V. SIMULATION AND COMPARISON
Fig. 2. Energy band diagram and 2DEG
We have designed the structure in SILVACO TCAD then
plotted the structure in TONYPLOTTM. Thus we have got the
IV. DEVICE MODELING 2DEG HEMT model which is shown in Fig. 3.
SILVACO simulation software for device performed the In the design, AlGaN and GaN layers with 3nm and
designing in this research. ATLASTM program accomplished 729.5nm widths are shown respectively. The thickness of
the general functions while GIGATM, BLAZETM, and C- insulator layer is 250nm. On the middle of insulator layer,
INTERPRETERTM executed particular functions necessary there is gate electrode. The drain electrode and source
for III-V heterojunction structured devices. To modify and electrode are the squares beside the right and left side of the
control the models, VWF Collaborating Tools (specifically insulator layers respectively. The silicon layer comprises of
TONYPLOTTM, DECKBUILDTM, and DEVEDITTM) were 1900nm thickness. The second layer is diamond and its
utilized. The SILVACO uses physically established thickness is 6000nm. Silicon and diamond together form the
simulation instead of empirical modeling. Empirical modeling substrate of this device, which is named as the SOD (Silicon-

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 2019 International Conference on Robotics,Electrical and Signal Processing Techniques (ICREST)

All the figures and curves shown in this section are

generated in TONYPLOTTM which is a powerful tool for
showing mesh structures and plot log files. We have also used
the overlay option of TONYPLOTTM to see multiple curves
from different log files in a single graph. We used different
scale parameters, fonts, line width, colors etc. to make the
output figures and graphs more visible and easy to understand.
For comparing 2DEG HEMT and a conventional HEMT,
we build a conventional HEMT in SILVACO which is shown
in Fig. 5.

Fig. 3. 2DEG structure of a Gallium Nitride HEMT

On-Diamond) technology. After designing the model, we

plotted the Id-Vgs and Id-Vds simulation parameters in
ATLASTM. The transfer curve is shown in Fig. 4a, which
exhibits that the threshold voltage (Vth)of this structure is
about -2V. Finally, the I-V curve is shown in Fig. 4b for
various gate-to-source voltages.

Fig. 5. Conventional HEMT model

In the design, AlGaN and GaN layers are layered with

width of 25nm and 1475nm, respectively. The insulator layer
(sapphire) is of 500nm thickness. Drain electrode is on the left,
source electrode is on the right and gate electrode is on the
middle. The Id-Vgs curve or transfer curve of conventional
HEMT is shown in Fig. 6a, which shows that the Vth
(threshold voltage) of the model is about -6V. And the I-V
curve is shown in Fig. 6b for various gates to source voltages.
Fig. 4a. 2DEG HEMT transfer curve (Ids vs. Vgs).

Fig. 6a. Conventional HEMT transfer curve

Fig, 4b. Drain current vs drain voltage (Ids vs Vds) curve

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However, some advanced structures such as GaN HEMT

with InGaN back barriers [11] and self-aligned-gate Gallium
Nitride HEMT with excessively doped n+ Gallium Nitride
ohmic contacts to 2-Dimensional Electron Gas (2DEG) [12]
are some examples of further studies of 2DEG model of GaN
HEMT. There is the much practical application of GaN
HEMT for high power [13] and high frequency [14] which
make it a revolutionary breakthrough in the world of modern
electronics.

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