The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-230768, filed Nov. 29, 2016. The contents of this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to a field-effect transistor.
A field-effect transistor includes: a semiconductor layer having a channel; and a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a gate electrode each connected to the semiconductor layer. These electrodes are arranged as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-210834. Specifically, the source electrode and the drain electrode each having a comb shape are arranged alternately so as to engage with each other, and the gate electrode is arranged between the source electrode and the drain electrode.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a field-effect transistor includes a source electrode, a drain electrode, a semiconductor structure, a gate electrode, an external connection section, and a bypass electrode. The semiconductor structure includes a channel provided between the source electrode and the drain electrode in a first direction. The gate electrode includes gate main portions and connection portions. The gate main portions have a first gate main portion length in the first direction and a second gate main portion length in a second direction intersecting with the first direction. The connection portions are alternatively connected to the gate main portions respectively in series in the second direction. Each of the connection portions has a first connection portion length in the first direction and a second connection portion length in the second direction. The first connection portion length is longer than the first gate main portion length. The second connection portion length is shorter than the second gate main portion length. The external connection section is connected to an end of the gate electrode in the second direction to apply electric power to the gate electrode. The bypass electrode connects the external connection section to each of the connection portions.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a field-effect transistor includes a source electrode, a drain electrode, a semiconductor structure, a gate electrode, an external connection section, and a bypass electrode. The semiconductor structure includes a channel provided between the source electrode and the drain electrode in a first direction. The gate electrode includes gate main portions and connection portions. The gate main portions extend in respective extending directions. The connection portions are connected to the gate main portions respectively in series in the respective extending directions. Each of the connection portions is connected to an adjacent gate main portion among the gate main portions. The adjacent gate main portion has a first gate main portion length in the first direction and a gate main portion extending direction length in an extending direction thereof among the respective extending directions. Each of the connection portions having a first connection portion length in the first direction and a connection portion extending direction length in the extending direction. The first connection portion length is longer than the first gate main portion length. The connection portion extending direction length is shorter than the gate main portion extending direction length. The external connection section is connected to an end of the gate electrode along the respective extending directions to apply electric power to the gate electrode. The bypass electrode connects the external connection section to each of the connection portions.
A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding or identical elements throughout the various drawings.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Embodiments to be described below are intended to embody the technological concept of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. In the following, the same designations or the same reference numerals may, in principle, denote the same or like members and duplicative descriptions will be appropriately omitted.
In manufacturing a plurality of field-effect transistors under the same design conditions, variations in turn-off time may result in some cases. Causes of an increase of the turn-off time in some of the field-effect transistors are uncertain. It is supposed as one of the causes that an electric potential is not uniformly and promptly transmitted all over a gate electrode 23. For example, it is considered that the existence of a delay portion, where the extension of a depletion layer is delayed due to, for example, a failure in formation of the depletion layer, at some midpoint in a gate electrode 23 gives a delay in extension of the depletion layer beyond the delay portion. It is also considered that as the number of delay portions is larger, a time until a depletion layer is satisfactorily extended all over a gate electrode 23 after input of a signal to the gate electrode 23, that is, a turn-off time becomes longer. In view of such a disadvantage, the bypass electrode 40 is provided as illustrated in
This configuration also avoids electric field concentration due to the delay, and therefore contributes to improvement in withstand voltage of the field-effect transistor 1. A situation in which the delay is caused refers to a situation in which a gate electrode is partially in the ON state and is partially in the OFF state. Therefore, if the delay is caused considerably, the semiconductor structure 11 and the like are susceptible to damage from the electric field concentration. However, the improvement in withstand voltage is effected since the bypass electrode 40 is provided to minimize the delay. Variations in turn-on time may also result in some cases in addition to the variations in turn-off time. Even in such a case, it is considered that the bypass electrode 40 is provided to uniformly and promptly transmit the electric potential all over the gate electrode 23, thereby controlling the variations in turn-on time.
Next, a description will be given of constituent members of the field-effect transistor 1 according to the embodiment.
Substrate 10
As illustrated in
Semiconductor Structure 11
The semiconductor structure 11 may be formed of a nitride semiconductor. Examples of the nitride semiconductor may include, but not limited thereto, GaN, InGaN, AlGaN, and AlN. The semiconductor structure 11 may include a first semiconductor layer 12 disposed on the substrate 10, and a second semiconductor layer 13 disposed on the first semiconductor layer 12. The first semiconductor layer 12 is formed of, for example, GaN. The second semiconductor layer 13 is larger in band gap energy than the first semiconductor layer 12. The second semiconductor layer 13 is formed of, for example, AlGaN. The second semiconductor layer 13 may include an AlN layer that is thinner than the AlGaN layer and is disposed under the AlGaN layer. The channel 12a is formed near a surface of the first semiconductor layer 12, the surface being closer to the second semiconductor layer 13. The channel 12a is, for example, a two-dimensional electron gas layer. As illustrated in
Source Electrode 21
The source electrode 21 is formed of, for example, Ti and Al. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Drain Electrode 22
The drain electrode 22 is formed of, for example, Ti and Al. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Gate Electrode 23
The gate electrode 23 is formed of, for example, Ni, Au, and Pt in this order from the semiconductor structure 11 side. For example, a gate contact layer such as a GaN layer containing p-type impurities may be disposed between the gate electrode 23 and the second semiconductor layer 13.
As illustrated in
It is considered that such delay portions as described above are distributed on an irregular basis. An influence of the delay portions is accordingly minimized as a distance between two of the connection portions 23b is shorter, so that variations in turn-off time are controlled with ease. Specifically, a length of each gate main portion 23a in the second direction Y is preferably equal to or less than 0.5 mm. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The gate electrode 23 may satisfy the following relationships as to the gate main portions 23a and the connection portions 23b. The gate electrode 23 includes a plurality of connection portions 23b, and a gate main portion 23a that extends to connect the connection portions 23b to each other. As to the connection portions 23b and the gate main portion 23a that are adjacent to each other, the gate main portion 23a is longer in length in the extending direction of the gate main portion 23a than the connection portions 23b. Moreover, the connection portions 23b are longer in length in the gate length direction of the gate main portion 23a than the gate main portion 23a.
Bypass Electrode 40
As illustrated in
The bypass electrode 40 preferably satisfies at least one of the following conditions: the bypass electrode 40 is longer in length in the first direction X than the gate main portions 23a; the bypass electrode 40 is larger in thickness than the gate main portions 23a; and the bypass electrode 40 is formed of a material higher in electric conductivity than a material for the gate main portions 23a. As described above, the bypass electrode 40 that is superior in electric conductivity to the gate main portions 23a is provided to uniformly and promptly transmit an electric potential all over the gate electrode 23 with higher reliability.
The bypass electrode 40 may additionally serve as a field plate electrode. As illustrated in
Field-effect transistors 1 of Examples 1 to 3 were prepared as follows. A semiconductor structure 11 that includes a buffer layer, an approximately 600 nm-thick undoped GaN layer, an approximately 0.9 nm-thick undoped AlN layer, an approximately 8 nm-thick undoped AlGaN layer, an approximately 10 nm-thick p-type GaN layer, an approximately 20 nm-thick undoped GaN layer, and an approximately 20 nm-thick undoped AlGaN layer stacked in this order was formed on a substrate 10 made of sapphire. As a gate electrode 23, Ni (thickness: approximately 800 nm) was formed on a surface of the undoped AlGaN layer. The three layers from the undoped AlGaN layer as the uppermost layer to the p-type GaN layer were removed except a region immediately under the gate electrode 23. In a region where a source electrode 21 and a drain electrode 22 are formed, the semiconductor structure 11 was partially removed so that an interface between the undoped GaN layer and the undoped AlN layer was exposed, and the source electrode 21 and the drain electrode 22 were formed to cover the interface. Each of the source electrode 21 and the drain electrode 22 was a stack of Ti (thickness: approximately 10 nm) and Al (thickness: approximately 300 nm) formed in this order from the substrate 10 side.
The source electrode 21 was formed to have 26 source main portion groups 21b each including a plurality of source main portions 21a, and the drain electrode 22 was fainted to include 25 drain main portions 22a. The source main portion groups 21b and the drain main portions 22a were arranged in parallel to each other in a region (approximately 1 mm×approximately 1 mm) on the semiconductor structure 11. The gate electrode 23 was formed to include gate main portions 23a and connection portions 23b. In one source main portion group 21b, each connection portion 23b was disposed between two of the source main portions 21a, and each gate main portion 23a was disposed at a position connecting two of the connection portions 23b to each other. In addition, an approximately 600 nm-thick SiO2 film having an opening was fainted as a first insulating film 61 to cover a surface of the semiconductor structure 11 and the respective electrodes on the semiconductor structure 11, and an approximately 470 nm-thick bypass electrode 40 made of Ni, Pt, and Ni was formed on the SiO2 film. The first insulating film 61 was formed to have openings 61a from which the connection portions 23b are exposed, and the bypass electrode 40 was connected to the connection portions 23b through the openings 61a.
A length of each source main portion 21a in a first direction X was set at approximately 5 μm, and a length of each source main portion group 21b in a second direction Y was set at approximately 1 mm. A length of each drain main portion 22a in the first direction X was set at approximately 5 μm, and a length of each drain main portion 22a in the second direction Y was set at approximately 1 mm. A gate length of each gate main portion 23a was set at approximately 1 μm. A length of each connection portion 23b in the first direction X was set at approximately 11 μm, and a length of each connection portion 23b in the second direction Y was set at approximately 20 μm. A length of a portion, which extends in parallel to the gate main portions 23a, of the bypass electrode 40 in the first direction X was set at approximately 4 μm. A length of each gate main portion 23a in the second direction Y, that is, a distance between two of the connection portions 23b was set at approximately 0.5 mm in Example 1, was set at approximately 0.25 mm in Example 2, and was set at 0.1 mm in Example 3. The field-effect transistors 1 of Examples 1 to 3 were manufactured with the same lot.
Field-effect transistors 1 of Examples 4 and 5 were respectively prepared in manners similar to those in Examples 2 and 3 except that the field-effect transistors of Examples 4 and 5 are different in lot from the field-effect transistors of Examples 2 and 3. Specifically, the field-effect transistors 1 of Examples 4 and 5 were manufactured with the same lot. A length of each gate main portion 23a in a second direction Y was set at approximately 0.25 mm in Example 4, and was set at 0.1 mm in Example 5.
A field-effect transistor of Comparative Example 1 was prepared in a manner similar to that in Example 1 except that the field-effect transistor of Comparative Example 1 is not provided with connection portions 23b. In other words, source main portions 21a were not separated from one another, and a field plate electrode was formed instead of the bypass electrode 40 so as to extend in parallel to gate main portions 23a without being in contact with the gate main portions 23a. The field-effect transistor of Comparative Example 1 was manufactured with the same lot as that for use in manufacturing the field-effect transistors 1 of Examples 1 to 3.
A field-effect transistor of Comparative Example 2 was prepared in a manner similar to that in Comparative Example 1 except that the field-effect transistor of Comparative Example 2 is different in lot from the field-effect transistor of Comparative Example 1. The field-effect transistor of Comparative Example 2 was manufactured with the same lot as that for use in manufacturing the field-effect transistors 1 of Examples 4 and 5.
Experimental Results
As shown in
Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2016-230768 | Nov 2016 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4879582 | Kimura | Nov 1989 | A |
5942773 | Kaneko | Aug 1999 | A |
6020613 | Udomoto | Feb 2000 | A |
6023086 | Reyes | Feb 2000 | A |
6765268 | Akamine | Jul 2004 | B2 |
7550821 | Shibata | Jun 2009 | B2 |
7560346 | Igarashi | Jul 2009 | B2 |
8344463 | Yanagihara | Jan 2013 | B2 |
8592919 | Inoue | Nov 2013 | B2 |
8987838 | Tanimoto | Mar 2015 | B2 |
9136263 | Koyama | Sep 2015 | B2 |
9166009 | Ishikura | Oct 2015 | B2 |
9293456 | Nita | Mar 2016 | B2 |
9379231 | Briere | Jun 2016 | B2 |
9461158 | Fujii | Oct 2016 | B2 |
9786660 | Farrell | Oct 2017 | B1 |
9859411 | Suzuki | Jan 2018 | B2 |
9947616 | Wood | Apr 2018 | B2 |
10128365 | Fayed | Nov 2018 | B2 |
20020140024 | Aoki | Oct 2002 | A1 |
20020180005 | Haematsu | Dec 2002 | A1 |
20030132460 | Tabuchi | Jul 2003 | A1 |
20040164407 | Nakajima | Aug 2004 | A1 |
20050116257 | Oakes | Jun 2005 | A1 |
20060071304 | Jagannathan | Apr 2006 | A1 |
20060081985 | Beach | Apr 2006 | A1 |
20060091480 | Desko | May 2006 | A1 |
20070120153 | Williams | May 2007 | A1 |
20070202360 | Chaudhari | Aug 2007 | A1 |
20070228424 | Igarashi | Oct 2007 | A1 |
20080157222 | Wang | Jul 2008 | A1 |
20090152649 | Kim | Jun 2009 | A1 |
20090256210 | Matsushita | Oct 2009 | A1 |
20120001230 | Takatani | Jan 2012 | A1 |
20120080729 | Fujikawa | Apr 2012 | A1 |
20130062625 | Takada | Mar 2013 | A1 |
20140124867 | Kaibara | May 2014 | A1 |
20140367797 | Tanimoto | Dec 2014 | A1 |
20150035080 | Matsumoto | Feb 2015 | A1 |
20150311332 | Zhang | Oct 2015 | A1 |
20170047438 | Simin | Feb 2017 | A1 |
20170104064 | Aoki | Apr 2017 | A1 |
20170148783 | Bettencourt | May 2017 | A1 |
20170271258 | Wood | Sep 2017 | A1 |
20170271497 | Fayed | Sep 2017 | A1 |
20170345920 | Nagahisa | Nov 2017 | A1 |
20180090476 | Kamada | Mar 2018 | A1 |
20180374943 | Liu | Dec 2018 | A1 |
20190088772 | Fayed | Mar 2019 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2008-021949 | Jan 2008 | JP |
2011-210834 | Oct 2011 | JP |
2015-002267 | Jan 2015 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20180151675 A1 | May 2018 | US |