Improved Microwave Noise Performance by SiN Passivation in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on Si

Effects of silicon nitride (SiN) surface passivation by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) on microwave noise characteristics of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on high-resistivity silicon (HR-Si) substrate have been investigated. About 25% improvement in the minimum noise figure (NFmin) (0.52 dB, from 2.03 dB to 1.51 dB) and 10% in the associate gain (Ga) (1.0 dB, from 10.3 dB to 11.3 dB) were observed after passivation. The equivalent circuit parameters and noise source parameters (including channel noise coefficient (P), gate noise coefficient (R), and their correlation coefficient (C)) were extracted.P,RandCall increased after passivation and the increase of C contributes to the decrease of the noise figure. It was found that the improved microwave small signal and noise performance is mainly due to the increase of the intrinsic transconductance (gm0) and the decrease of the extrinsic source resistance (Rs).