On reliable modeling of substrate/buffer loading effects in a gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistor on silic

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On reliable modeling of substrate/buffer loading effects in a gallium nitride high‑electron‑mobility transistor on silicon substrate Anwar Jarndal1   · Ahmed S. Hussein2 Received: 4 May 2020 / Accepted: 27 August 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020

Abstract Currently, gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon (Si) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMT) are a promising candidate for designing improved power electronic circuits. The lattice mismatch between GaN and Si induces buffer/substrate leakage currents that impact the performance of the device. In this paper, four different model topologies have been demonstrated to simulate the buffer/substrate loading effect in GaN on a Si HEMT. A particle swarm optimization-based procedure has been developed to extract reliable values for the model elements. The models are evaluated in term of reliability of extraction and accuracy of S-parameter fitting. The results showed that the RC-based model topologies have more accurate simulation for buffer/substrate leakage than the RLC-based topology. This will contribute to reliable and accurate small-/large-signal modeling of the device for designing efficient power circuits. Keywords  Gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistor · Small-signal modeling · Particle swarm optimization

1 Introduction In recent years, gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) have proved to be a desirable technology for future power and communication electronics. Its material properties give it supremacy in terms of cut-off frequency, break down voltage and radio-frequency (RF) power [1, 2], all of which are attractive traits in high-efficiency power converters and high-frequency power amplifiers [3, 4]. Currently, GaN HEMTs grown on silicon (Si) substrate are cost-effective alternatives and the most suitable device to be developed in large scale [5]. Si substrates have low crystal defect density, zero macro-defects, and offer a high-quality surface as required for performing epitaxy [6]. They also have a high wafer–wafer consistency and quality that are the result of decades of optimization in the manufacturing process of Si substrates [7]. Meanwhile, there is an increasing demand for accurate GaN HEMT models to be integrated in computer aided * Anwar Jarndal [email protected] 1



Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates



School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

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design (CAD) tools. Typically, the needed large-signal model is developed from the base small-signal one in a bottom-up manner [8]. The accuracy of the large-signal model relies on the accuracy of the small-signal model (SSM) and the reliability of the extraction procedure [9]. Hence, it is important to develop reliable modeling techniques that can comply with the requirements of the targeted applications. A number of papers have been published in the past decade to address this issue, and most of t