Energy relaxation of hot electrons by LO phonon emission in AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure with in situ Si3N4 passivation

In this study, energy relaxation mechanisms of electrons in AlGaN/AlN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) structures with and without in situ Si3N4 passivation were investigated. Although the physical parameters of the samples were all different, the electron-temperature dependent power loss values were found to be identical. The study also sought to fit the current theoretical power loss in the LO-phonon regime to the experimental power-loss per carrier results. The calculated power loss offered a reasonably fit to the experimental data in the electron temperature range between 75 and 250 K.