Gate Capacitance and Off-State Characteristics of E-Mode p-GaN Gate AlGaN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistors After Gate Stress Bias

This study investigated the gate capacitance and off-state characteristics of 650-V enhancement-mode p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors after various degrees of gate stress bias. A significant change was observed in the on-state capacitance when the gate stress bias was greater than 6 V. The corresponding threshold voltage exhibited a positive shift at low gate stress and a negative shift when the gate stress was greater than 6 V, which agreed with the shift observation from the I – V measurement. Moreover, the off-state leakage current increased significantly after the gate stress exceeded 6 V during the off-state characterization although the devices could be biased up to 1000 V without breakdown. The increase in the off-state leakage current would lead to higher power loss.