1. What is hetero-junction?

It is an interface that occurs between two semiconductors

with unequal band gaps.
2. Why do we need hetero-junction?
We are using two different semiconductors of different
crystal structure. So, to match the lattice between them we
need hetero-junction.
3. Why do we use semiconductors when we have
metals?
In semiconductors we can control the flow of electrons by
doping whereas this is not possible in metals.
4. What is energy band gap?
A band gap is the distance between the valence
band of electrons and the conduction band. Essentially,
the band gap represents the minimum energy that is
required to excite an electron up to a state in the
conduction band where it can participate in conduction.
5. What is 2DEG?
A two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is a scientific
model in solid-state physics. It is an electron gas that is
free to move in two dimensions, but tightly confined in the
third.
This 2DEG at the hetero-junction serves as the conductive
channel for large drain currents due to high electron
mobility and high electron sheet charge density.
6. How is 2DEG formed?
The band gap of AlGaN and GaN does not match with
each other. Therefore their Fermi energy levels are
matched such that the conduction band of AlGaN is
brought down and that of the GaN is pushed up which
ultimately results in a hetero-junction interface.
 Free electrons are produced due to polarization effect
which starts accumulating in the triangular quantum well
also known as the heterojunction interface which forms
the 2 Dimensional Electron Gas(2DEG).

7. What is electron affinity?

The electron affinity is a measure of the attraction
between the incoming electron and the nucleus - the
stronger the attraction, the more energy is released.
8. What is a Fermi level?
It is the highest energy level that an electron can reach or
occupy in a material at room temperature. It is one of the
energy levels in a semiconductor above which all energy
levels are unoccupied or vacant at room temperature.
9. What is vacuum level?
The vacuum level refers to the energy of a free stationary
electron that is outside of any material. It may be taken as
infinitely far away from the atom.
10. What is conduction band?
The conduction band is the band of orbitals that are high
in energy and are generally empty. In reference to
conductivity in semiconductors, it is the band that accepts
the electrons from the valence band.
11. What is valence band?
The valence band is the band made up of the occupied
molecular orbitals and is lower in energy than the
conduction band. It is generally completely full in semi-
conductors.
12. What is work function?
The minimum quantity of energy which is required to
remove an electron to infinity from the surface of a given
solid.
13. What is HEMT?
High Electron Mobility Transistor is a hetero-structure
device composed of two different layers in which the wide
band gap material is grown over the narrow band gap
material.
14. What is knee voltage?
The voltage at which the device starts conducting.
15. What is breakdown voltage?
At a voltage at which the current reaches an infinite value
16. What is current collapse?
It is the phenomenon in which current starts dripping after
it reaches saturation level. This effect is caused due to
defects and traps.
17. What happens due to current collapse?
It causes significant reduction of output power at high
frequency and thus reduces the efficiency.
18. What is gate lag?
It is used to describe the slow transient response
observed in the drain current measurement when the
applied gate voltage of the device is changed abruptly.
19. What are the 2 physical mechanisms which
causes gate lag?
 Presence of ionized surface state donors over the
un-gated surface of the device
 Shift of pinch-off voltage of the device due to the
charge trapping process under the gate
20. What is pinch-off voltage?
When the gate voltage is made more negative, width of
the channel decrease until no more current flows between
drain and current. This voltage is termed as pinch-off
voltage.
21. What is drain lag?
It is used to describe the slow transient observed in the
drain current measurement when the applied voltage of
the device is pulsed abruptly and a high negative bias is
applied to gate terminal of the device.
22. What are traps?
It is the presence of material defects due to growth of
AlGaN/GaN epi-layers on a lattice mismatched substrate,
or the distortion of crystal lattice due to the formation of
hetero-junction interface, create deep levels inside the
device that act as traps for charge carriers.
23. What is spontaneous polarization?
It is the built in polarization field existing in an unstrained
GaN crystal. It exists because the crystal lacks symmetry
and the resulting bond between two atoms is no purely
covalent.
24. What is piezoelectric polarization?
The polarization resulting from the distortion of the crystal
lattice.
25. What happens due to piezoelectric polarization?
The strain induced due to piezoelectric polarization can
alter the band structure and thus changes the sheet
carrier concentration in the channel region.
26. What is the role of substrate?
To conduct and efficiently dissipate the heat generated
during device operation, substrate is required.
27. Why do we need a buffer layer?
To reduce leakage current and short-channel effects,
buffer is used.
28. What material is used in a spacer layer and why?
Un-doped AlGaN spacer layer is used to separate the
doped AlGaN barrier layer from the channel region and
thereby reduces the possibility of impurity scattering to
make sure the high electron mobility.
29. Why do we need a schottky gate contact in
HEMT?
 To deplete the channel
 To avoid the parasitic parallel conduction between
the source and the drain region
30. What is the major problem faced by GaN HEMT
and how can it be reduced?
DC-RF dispersion (related to surface and bulk traps and
high leakage current). It describes the difference between
in the output power estimated from DC-IV curves and from
the load pull measurements. It can be reduced by the
introduction of SiN passivation.
31. How can we increase the breakdown voltage in
HEMT?
By implementing the field plate structure for the gate
region of the device, breakdown voltage can be increased.
32. Why do we use SiC as substrate?
 The lattice mismatch between GaN and SiC is very
less
 Low thermal expansion coefficient mismatch
33. What is a field plate?
It is a metal plate placed over the gate region and
extended towards drain region in order to sustain uniform
electric field in the device structure. It also determines the
large signal performance of the device.
34. What happens when the lattice mismatch
between the GaN and substrate is large?
Large lattice mismatch causes tensile stress which leads
to the generation of crystal defects and dislocations. It
degrades the performance of the device.
35. What is thermal expansion coefficient?
The fractional change in length of the solid per unit
temperature change.
36. What are the properties of GaN?
 Wide band gap
 High breakdown electric field
 High electron saturation velocity
 High electron density carrier in the form of 2DEG with
high mobility
37. Why is AlN/GaN HEMT is more advantageous
than AlGaN/GaN HEMT?
By reducing the thickness of AlGaN barrier layer below a
certain extent, it causes the strongest degradation of
2DEG density in the channel. Therefore we go for
AlN/GaN HEMT devices due to their higher current density
using an ultra-thin AlN barrier.
38. What are the 2 properties of HEMTs that make
them suitable for high frequency and high power
applications?
 High mobility
 High electron density