Simulation and fabrication of high voltage AlGaN/GaN based Schottky diodes with field plate edge termination

In this paper, we report the breakdown voltage (BV) of AlGaN/GaN based Schottky diodes with field plate edge termination. Simulation and fabrication of AlGaN/GaN Schottky diodes were carried out. The simulations were performed using the commercial 2-D device simulator DESSIS. From the simulations, it is found that for a given gate-Ohmic distance (L_gd) of 10 μm, 2DEG of 1 × 10¹³ cm^-2 and field plate length (L_FP) of 2.5 μm, highest BV can be obtained for a silicon nitride thickness of 8000 Å and this BV value is more than 5 times that for a Schottky diode without field plate. The breakdown voltages were also simulated for different field plate lengths. The BV values obtained on the fabricated Schottky diodes are compared with the simulation data and the experimental results follow the trend obtained from the simulation. Simulations were also carried out on a Schottky diode with field plate placed over a stepped insulator with L_gd = 10 μm, L_FP = 5 μm and 2DEG = 1 × 10¹³ cm^-2 and the obtained BV values are about 7 times that without field plate.