Comparison of wurtzite and zinc blende III-V nitrides field effect transistors: a 2D Monte Carlo device simulation

An ensemble Monte Carlo method is used to compare the potentialities of zinc blende and wurtzite GaN for field effect transistor applications. First, bulk material electron transport properties are compared and we find that mobility, steady state velocity and velocity overshoot are at the advantage of zinc blende GaN. Then, zinc blende GaN and wurtzite GaN MESFET with very short gate length (L-g = 0.12 mu m) are investigated using a 2D Monte Carlo device simulation. A 50% gain in performance is obtained for the zinc blende GaN MESFET as compared with the wurtzite one. A zinc blende AlGaN/GaN HEMT is also simulated and exhibits a current density of 900 mA mm(-1), a transconductance of 480 mS mm(-1) and a cut-off frequency of 180 GHz. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.