Neutron irradiation on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors on SiC substrates

Abstract

Electrical properties of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on SiC substrates irradiated with low dose of neutron are reported. AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with 0.5 x 100 mu m(2) gate were irradiated with a dose of 2.8 x 10(11) cm(-2) neutrons and average energy of 9.8 MeV. 10% of drain-source current was reduced right after neutron exposure, but complete recovery of current was observed in 40 day storage at room temperature. This is attributed to self-annealing process which removes unstable mobile defect clusters created by neutron bombardment. Also, neutron damaged sample showed instant recovery under UV light exposure. Fully recovered device was irradiated again with same conditions of neutrons, and similar recovery behavior at room temperature was obtained. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.