Mh. Somerville et al., A NEW GATE CURRENT EXTRACTION TECHNIQUE FOR MEASUREMENT OF ON-STATE BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE IN HEMTS, IEEE electron device letters, 19(11), 1998, pp. 405-407
We present a new simple three-terminal technique for measuring the on-
state breakdown voltage in HEMT's. The gate current extraction techniq
ue involves grounding the source, and extracting a constant current fr
om the gate. The drain current is then ramped from the off-state to th
e on-state, and the locus of drain voltage is measured. This locus of
drain current versus drain voltage provides a simple, unambiguous defi
nition of the on-state breakdown voltage which is consistent with the
accepted definition of off-state breakdown. The technique is relativel
y safe and repeatable so that temperature dependent measurements of on
-state breakdown can be carried out. This helps illuminate the physics
of both off-state and on-state breakdown.