Reliability Assessment of On-Wafer AlGaN/GaN HEMTs: The Impact of Electric Field Stress on the Mean Time to Failure

We present the mean time to failure (MTTF) of on-wafer AlGaN/GaN HEMTs under two distinct electric field stress conditions. The channel temperature (T(ch)) of the devices exhibits variability contingent upon the stress voltage and power dissipation, thereby influencing the long-term reliability of the devices. The accuracy of the channel temperature assumes a pivotal role in MTTF determination, a parameter measured and simulated through TCAD Silvaco device simulation. Under low electric field stress, a gradual degradation of I(DSS) is noted, accompanied by a negative shift in threshold voltage (ΔV(T)) and a substantial increase in gate leakage current (I(G)). Conversely, the high electric field stress condition induces a sudden decrease in I(DSS) without any observed shift in threshold voltage. For the low and high electric field conditions, MTTF values of 360 h and 160 h, respectively, were determined for on-wafer AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.