Characterization of AlGaN/GaN MOSHFETs with Al2O3 as gate oxide

We report on AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistors (MOSHFETs) with MOCVD deposited Al2O3 as a gate oxide. Properties of MOSHFETs with 9 nm and 14 nm thick Al2O3 are compared with conventional HFETs prepared simultaneously on the same layer structure. Lower gate leakage current (similar to 10(-5) A/mm at -10 V) and higher saturated drain current (up to 40 %) are obtained for MOSHFETs than those for HFETs. In contradiction to previously reported data, the extrinsic transconductance for MOSHFETs is also higher (up to 37% of peak values) than that for HFET. This indicates on semi-conductive rather than insulating properties of Al2O3 gate oxide. Pulsed I-V measurements (pulse width 1 mu s) yielded lower but still measurable current collapse in MOSHFETs compared to HFETs. Nevertheless, obtained results show that Al2O3 gate oxide, after optimising its microstructure and thickness, can be preferable for the preparation of AlGaN/GaN MOSHFETs. (c) 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.