TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE OF IMPACT IONIZATION IN ALGAN-GAN HETEROSTRUCTURE FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORS

We report on the studies of the impact ionization in AlGaN-GaN heteros tructure field effect transistors in the temperature range 17-43 degre es C. The results show that the breakdown voltage and the characterist ic electrical field E-i of the impact ionization have a positive tempe rature coefficient. The value of E-i at room temperature is estimated to be approximately 2.6 MV/cm, which agrees with recent theoretical pr ediction. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.