[Legacy Report] A Unified Compact Model for GaN-Based HEMTs

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III-V channel field-effect transistors (FETs), such as GaN-based high electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs), have emerged as promising candidates for future generation high-frequency, high-voltage, and high-power ULSI applications. Development of a compact model for HEMTs in III-V/Si co-integrated hybrid circuit design is becoming an urgent need for semiconductor industry. This talk presents a unified compact model for generic GaN-based HEMTs, which has been validated with the exact numerical solutions for a wide range of device parameters and verified with experimental data of sub-100-nm gate lengths. The model is based on unified regional modeling (URM) of the 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) charge density, including the two lowest subbands of the triangular well in the active region, and extending to the moderate-inversion and subthreshold regions of operation in a single-piece formulation. The 2DEG charge density model is adopted in the surface-potential (SP)-based model for conventional bulk/SOI/multigate MOSFETs, which makes it compatible and scalable for future III-V/Si co-integrated generations. In this talk, fundamentals in compact modeling of generic FETs are reviewed in the context of the URM approach, and its extension to modeling the 2DEG in HEMT devices, including charge-based model for intrinsic as well as parasitic capacitances for high-frequency applications. HEMT-specific features will also be discussed, such as source/drain access resistances, current-collapse, self-heating, and parallel-channel effects. Model comparisons with quasi-ballistic (QB)-based formalism will be made, and model implementation in SPICE as well as application to high-frequency digital/analog circuit building blocks will be demonstrated.

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