Scattering mechanisms limiting two-dimensional electron gas mobility in Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaN modulation-doped field-effect transistors

In order to characterize the electron transport properties of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in AlGaN/GaN modulation-doped field-effect transistors, channel magnetoresistance has been measured in the magnetic field range of 0-12 T, the temperature range of 25-300 K, and gate bias range of +0.5 to -2.0 V. By assuming that the 2DEG provides the dominant contribution to the total conductivity, a one-carrier fitting procedure has been applied to extract the electron mobility and carrier sheet density at each particular value of temperature and gate bias. Consequently, the electron mobility versus 2DEG sheet density has been obtained for each measurement temperature. Theoretical analysis of these results suggests that for 2DEG densities below 7x10(12) cm(-2), the electron mobility in these devices is limited by interface charge, whereas for densities above this level, electron mobility is dominated by scattering associated with the AlGaN/GaN interface roughness. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)06805-5].