Hot electron effects in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs during hard-switching events

This work contains an investigation of hot-electrons effects in GaN transistors during a hard-switching event by means of wafer-level measurements and TCAD mixed-mode hydrodynamic simulations. The latter reveals the presence of hot electrons at the passivation/barrier interface during commutation. Trapping in this location can explain the measured on-state resistance increase during switching operation and leads to a redistribution of the lateral electric field in the two-dimensional electron gas, which in return modulates the hot electron injection process.