Proton-Induced Effect on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs After Hydrogen Treatment

The effect of proton irradiation on the electrical properties of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with hydrogen treatment is studied. Hydrogen treatment makes the damage caused by proton irradiation worse. The AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with hydrogen treatment at $2.0 \times 10^{14}\text{p}$ /cm2 3-MeV proton irradiation fluence experience a decrease by 37.3% in the saturation current, a 0.55V positive shift of the threshold voltage ( V $_{th}$ ) and a notable decrease in reverse gate leakage current. While the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs without hydrogen treatment experience a decrease by 18.2% in the saturation current, a 0.211V positive shift of the V $_{th}$ . After extracted by the Low Frequency Noise method (LFN method), the flat-band voltage noise power spectral density ( S $_{Vfb}$ ) after hydrogen treatment decreases, and proton irradiation makes the number of defects increased. But the hydrogen treatment causes the S $_{Vfb}$ to rise rapidly after proton irradiation, comparing with the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs without hydrogen treatment. The main mechanism can be attributed to the hydrogen passivation defect and proton irradiation to stimulate the passivation defect to produce composite defects. And the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with hydrogen treatment is more sensitive to proton irradiation, compared with the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs without hydrogen treatment.