High-Density ecR-Plasma Deposited Silicon Nitride Films for Applications in III/V-based Compound Semiconductor Devices

R.E. Sah^a, M. Mikulla^a, H. Baumann^b, F. Benkhelifa^a, R. Quaya, and G. Weimanna ^aFraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics, Tullastrasse 72, D-79108 Freiburg, Germany, Email: sah@iaf.fhg.de, Phone: ++49-761-51590

^bInstitut fur Kernphysik, J.W. Goethe Universitat, Max-von-Laue -Strasse 1, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany Phone: ++49-69-79847016

We report on the ecR-plasma deposition and characterization of silicon nitride film exhibiting high breakdown field strength (>8 MV/cm) for applications in III-V-based compound semiconductor devices. The film deposited at 240^oC contains around 13 at.% hydrogen. The hysteresis in mechanical stress, obtained from thermal cycling of the stress in film is negligible. The application of the film is being demonstrated in GaN-based HEMTs. The devices with gate length 0.3 u. and a periphery of 8x125 µm yield cw output power density of 5.2 W/mm at 10 GHz and 35 V drain bias after passivation with SiN film.

Keywords: High-density plasma, SiN film, ecR-PecVD, GaN HEMT, Passivation, Dielectric film

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