A high reliability GaN HEMT with SiN passivation by Cat-CVD

This is the first report of catalytic vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) passivated AlGaN/GaN HEMT. We have found out that the Cat-CVD passivation film with NH3 treatment greatly enhances the reliability of the AlGaN/GaN HEMT. It is rationalized, through the low frequency capacitance-voltage measurement, that the NH3 treatment in the Cat-CVD reactor before the SiN film deposition minimizes the damage at the SiN/AlGaN interface, leading to reducing the surface trap density. The AlGaN/GaN HEMT passivated by the Cat-CVD SiN film suppresses the degradation of an output power to less than 0.4 dB under the RF operation of Vd = 30 V, f = 5 GHz after 200 h.