Photon Emission Spectral Signatures of AlGaN/GaN HEMT for Functional and Reliability Analysis

Non-degraded and degraded AlGaN/GaN HEMT devices have been characterized electrically and investigated in various operating modes using integral and spectrally resolved photon emission (PE). In degraded devices the PE dependence on the gate voltage differs from the non-degraded devices. Various types of dependencies on the gate voltage have been identified when investigating local degradation sites. PE spectroscopy was performed at various bias conditions. For both devices broad spectra have been obtained in a wavelength regime from visible to near-infrared, including local performance variations. Signatures of the degradation have been determined in the electrical characterization, in integral PE distribution and in the PE spectrum.