Introductory Fourier transform spectroscopy

It is well known that trapping effects can limit the output power performance of microwave field-effect transistors (FETs). This is particularly true for the wide bandgap devices. In this paper we review the various trapping phenomena observed in SiC- and GaN-based FETs that contribute to compromised power performance. For both of these material systems, trapping effects associated with both the surface and with the layers underlying the active channel have been identified. The measurement techniques utilized to identify these traps and some of the steps taken to minimize their effects, such as modified buffer layer designs and surface passivation, are described. Since similar defect-related phenomena were addressed during the development of the GaAs technology, relevant GaAs work is briefly summarized.

Trapping effects in GaN and SiC microwave FETs

The crystallization of undoped amorphous silicon films deposited by low‐pressure chemical vapor deposition in the temperature range 580–530 °C and annealed from 550 to 950 °C has been studied by transmission electron microscopy. The average grain size of the crystallized films depends on the annealing temperature and the deposition conditions. The nucleation rate of new grains during annealing decreases as the deposition temperature decreases from 580 to 545 °C and/or when the deposition rate increases. The final grain size is also influenced by the annealing temperature with the largest grain size obtained at low annealing temperatures. A simple model is described which explains the dependence of grain size on the annealing temperature. An average grain size of 500 nm has been obtained in a 200‐nm film deposited at 545 °C and annealed at 550 °C.

Large grain polycrystalline silicon by low‐temperature annealing of low‐pressure chemical vapor deposited amorphous silicon films

This paper critically investigates the advantages and limitations of the current-transient methods used for the study of the deep levels in GaN-based high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), by evaluating how the procedures adopted for measurement and data analysis can influence the results of the investigation. The article is divided in two parts within Part I. 1) We analyze how the choice of the measurement and analysis parameters (such as the voltage levels used to induce the trapping phenomena and monitor the current transients, the duration of the filling pulses, and the method used for the extrapolation of the time constants of the capture/emission processes) can influence the results of the drain current transient investigation and can provide information on the location of the trap levels responsible for current collapse. 2) We present a database of defects described in more than 60 papers on GaN technology, which can be used to extract information on the nature and origin of the trap levels responsible for current collapse in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. Within Part II, we investigate how self-heating can modify the results of drain current transient measurements on the basis of combined experimental activity and device simulation.

Deep-Level Characterization in GaN HEMTs-Part I: Advantages and Limitations of Drain Current Transient Measurements

GalliumNitridebasedhighelectronmobilitytransistors(HEMTs)areattractiveforuseinhighpowerandhighfrequencyapplications, with higher breakdown voltages and two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density compared to their GaAs counterparts. Specific applications for nitride HEMTs include air, land and satellite based communications and phased array radar. Highly efficient GaNbased blue light emitting diodes (LEDs) employ AlGaN and InGaN alloys with different compositions integrated into heterojunctions and quantum wells. The realization of these blue LEDs has led to white light sources, in which a blue LED is used to excite a phosphor material; light is then emitted in the yellow spectral range, which, combined with the blue light, appears as white. Alternatively, multiple LEDs of red, green and blue can be used together. Both of these technologies are used in high-efficiency white electroluminescent light sources. These light sources are efficient and long-lived and are therefore replacing incandescent and fluorescent lamps for general lighting purposes. Since lighting represents 20‐30% of electrical energy consumption, and because GaN white light LEDs require ten times less energy than ordinary light bulbs, the use of efficient blue LEDs leads to significant energy savings. GaN-based devices are more radiation hard than their Si and GaAs counterparts due to the high bond strength in III-nitride materials. The response of GaN to radiation damage is a function of radiation type, dose and energy, as well as the carrier density, impurity content and dislocation density in the GaN. The latter can act as sinks for created defects and parameters such as the carrier removal rate due to trapping of carriers into radiation-induced defects depends on the crystal growth method used to grow the GaN layers. The growth method has a clear effect on radiation response beyond the carrier type and radiation source. We review data on the radiation resistance of AlGaN/GaN and InAlN/GaN HEMTs and GaN‐based LEDs to different types of ionizing radiation, and discuss ion stopping mechanisms. The primary energy levels introduced by different forms of radiation, carrier removal rates and role of existing defects in GaN are discussed. The carrier removal rates are a function of initial carrier concentration and dose but not of dose rate or hydrogen concentration in the nitride material grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition. Proton and electron irradiation damage in HEMTs creates positive threshold voltage shifts due to a decrease in the two dimensional electron gas concentration resulting from electron trapping at defect sites, as well as a decrease in carrier mobility and degradation of drain current and transconductance. State-of-art simulators now provide accurate predictions for the observed changes in radiation-damaged HEMT performance. Neutron irradiation creates more extended damage regions and at high doses leads to Fermi level pinning while 60 Co γ-ray irradiation leads to much smaller changes in HEMT drain current relative to the other forms of radiation. In InGaN/GaN blue LEDs irradiated with protons at fluences near 10 14 cm −2 or electrons at fluences near 10 16 cm −2 , both current-voltage and light output-current characteristics are degraded with increasing proton dose. The optical performance of the LEDs is more sensitive to the proton or electron irradiation than that of the corresponding electrical performances. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/2.0251602jss/pdf

Review—Ionizing Radiation Damage Effects on GaN Devices

The deep level transient spectroscopy technique has been used to study the EL2 defect in n‐type semiconducting GaAs subjected to 1 MeV fast neutrons at room temperature. After neutron irradiation, the EL3 defect which is usually detected between 180 and 210 K disapperared and the EL2 defect measured between 280 and 320 K was found to remain single exponential (Ec−0.820 eV) despite the creation of a broad U band measured between 100 and 270 K. From this result, together with our earlier reports on the double exponential capacitance transient of the EL2 defect after 1 MeV electron irradiation [Lai, Nener, Faraone, Nassibian, and Hotchkis, J. Appl. Phys. 73, 640 (1993)] and the behavior of the electron irradiated EL2 defect upon isochronal annealing [Lai and Nener, J. Appl. Phys. 75, 2354 (1994)], we observe a difference in the behavior of the EL2 defect after neutron and electron irradiation. The results of the present study indicate that the EL2‐B level reported in an earlier work is not due to any interac...

Comparison of neutron and electron irradiation on the EL2 defect in GaAs

A MEMS-based Fabry-Perot etalon that uses doubly-supported beams for actuation is shown to have a wider tuning range than conventional designs using parallel plates

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/11194/36055/01708301.pdf

Extended Tuning Range Fabry-Perot Etalon with Doubly-Supported Beam Actuators

Many thermal imaging applications stand to gain from the inclusion of multispectral capabilities in the long wave infrared (LWIR). While infrared spectral imaging systems presently exist, the addition of multispectral capabilities will provide a number of advantages, including the ability to accurately quantify the temperature distribution a scene, and the potential for dramatically improved target identification using spectral processing algorithms. We report here on our microspectrometer technology, based on electrically tuneable Fabry-Perot filters, which is moving towards implementation in the LWIR (8 – 12 micron wavelength) for multispectral thermal imaging applications.

/pdf/towards-longwave-infrared-tuneable-filters-for-multispectral-apx58xxpxs.pdf

Towards longwave infrared tuneable filters for multispectral thermal imaging applications

A Raman spectroscopy study of MBE-grown Hg 1- x Cd x Se alloys grown on GaSb (2 1 1) by molecular beam epitaxy

Wide spectral tuning from 1620 nm to 2425 nm has been achieved in a MEMS-based tunable Fabry-Perot filter. Fixed-fixed beam actuators were used to extend the tuning beyond the inherent limit of a parallel plate actuator.

L. Faraone

Papers

Comparison of neutron and electron irradiation on the EL2 defect in GaAs

Extended Tuning Range Fabry-Perot Etalon with Doubly-Supported Beam Actuators

Towards longwave infrared tuneable filters for multispectral thermal imaging applications

A Raman spectroscopy study of MBE-grown Hg 1- x Cd x Se alloys grown on GaSb (2 1 1) by molecular beam epitaxy

Widely tunable Fabry-Perot optical filter using fixed-fixed beam actuators