1.4-kV Breakdown Voltage for AlGaN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistors on Silicon Substrate

In this letter, we present the device characteristics of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on 4-in Si using various buffer thicknesses (T
_Buf
). The transmission electron microscopic image confirms a low dislocation density (9.7 × 10
⁷
cm
^-2
) for our epilayers grown using thick buffer layers. An increase in mobility and a decrease in sheet resistance of these samples were observed owing to improved crystal quality for GaN on thick buffer. High electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) tested for three-terminal off breakdown voltage (3TBV ) show signs of breakdown voltage saturation for gate-drain length (L
_gd
) exceeding 15 μm. However, an increase in T
_Buf
causes a drastic increase in 3TBV , and a high 3TBV of 1.4 kV was observed with a specific on-resistance of 9.6 mΩ · cm
²
. A figure of merit (FOM = BV
²
/R
_on
) of 2.6 × 10
⁸
V
²
· Ω
^-1
· cm
^-2
was observed for our devices, which is the highest for an AlGaN/GaN HEMT grown on Si.