Influence of gate leakage current on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs evidenced by low frequency noise and pulsed electrical measurements

•Two types of devices are tested presenting differences in the gate leakage current.•Electrical and noise analysis are performed on gate and drain terminals.•Pulsed drain current always higher for the leaky device than the non-leaky.•Traps revealed by gate-LFN are correlated with higher level of gate lag on T2.

The study of the pulsed drain current or noise characteristics in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs is the key of knowledge for designing the power amplifiers, the low noise amplifiers and the oscillators or mixers, but it is well accepted today that this study is not fully accomplished without pointing on the effect of the gate leakage current; It is obvious that the transistor’s leakage current may disturb its operation at high power and high frequency. Leakage currents studies are also an area of great importance in optimization of safe operating area and reliability of HEMTs. Therefore, room temperature pulsed I–V and low frequency noise measurements of gate and drain currents of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs have been investigated under different bias conditions on two devices showing identical drain current and different gate current levels. The results show a correlation between two non-destructive measurement techniques applied on devices under test.