Effect of electron-beam irradiation on leakage current of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on sapphire

This study examined the effect of electron-beam (E-beam) irradiation on the electrical properties of n-GaN, AlGaN and AlGN/GaN structures on sapphire substrates. E-beam irradiation resulted in a significant decrease in the gate leakage current of the n-GaN, AlGaN and HEMT structure from $4.0{\times}10^{-4}A$, $6.5{\times}10^{-5}A$, $2.7{\times}10^{-8}A$ to $7.7{\times}10^{-5}A$, $7.7{\times}10^{-6}A$, $4.7{\times}10^{-9}A$, respectively, at a drain voltage of -10V. Furthermore, we also investigated the effect of E-beam irradiation on the AlGaN surface in AlGaN/GaN heterostructure high electron mobility transistors(HEMTs). The results showed that the maximum drain current density of the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with E-beam irradiation was greatly improved, when compared to that of the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs without E-beam irradiation. These results strongly suggest that E-beam irradiation is a promising method to reduce leakage current of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on sapphire through the neutralization the trap.