Reliability of large periphery GaN-on-Si HFETs

GaN devices exhibit excellent potential for use in many RF applications. However, commercial acceptance of the technology has been hindered by the scarcity and non-statistical nature of reliability results. In this work we present a full device level reliability study of GaN-on-Si HFETs. Reliability results on this technology include three-temperature DC data that show an activation energy of 1.7 eV and an average failure time >107 h at 150 °C. Additionally, long duration DC lifetest (30 000 device hours) and RF lifetest (4000 device hours) results demonstrate a repeatable low drift process. Environmental tests such as autoclave and ESD demonstrate the ruggedness of the material system and technology. Finally, initial failure analysis is discussed.