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10
Trapping and
Degradation Mechanisms
in GaN-Based HEMTs
Matteo Meneghini, Gaudenzio Meneghesso,
and Enrico Zanoni
10.1 INTRODUCTION
Over the last few years, GaN-based transistors have demonstrated to be excellent
devices for application in high-frequency systems (radars, communication devices,
etc.) and in the power electronics eld (power converters, photovoltaic inverters,
electric cars, etc.). This is possible thanks to the very unique characteristics of GaN,
namely the high electron mobility compared to conventional semiconductors (>2000
cm
2
/Vs), the high breakdown eld (>300 V/µm), and the high thermal conductivity
(in excess of 2 W/cmK). ...