GaN HEMT on Non-Flat Ceramic Base to Reduce Cracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing GaN-based high electron mobility transistors face inefficiencies in manufacturing and performance, particularly due to thermal and lattice mismatches with silicon substrates, leading to cracking issues and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor structure is developed with a ceramic base having a non-flat surface, where a seed layer and nucleation layer are conformally deposited, followed by a GaN-based compound semiconductor layer, gate, source, and drain, directly forming a high electron mobility transistor without multiple dielectric layers, which reduces thermal and lattice mismatches and fabrication time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If GaN-based high electron mobility transistors are manufactured on silicon substrates, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but thermal and lattice mismatches cause cracking issues and device reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a ceramic base as an intermediary substrate between the silicon manufacturing infrastructure and the GaN-based semiconductor layer. This ceramic base serves as a thermal and lattice-matched intermediary that prevents cracking while maintaining compatibility with existing silicon-based manufacturing processes, thereby resolving the contradiction between manufacturing ease and device reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite structure consisting of a ceramic base combined with GaN-based semiconductor materials. This composite approach leverages the thermal and mechanical properties of ceramic materials to mitigate mismatch issues, while maintaining the electrical properties of GaN, thus improving reliability without sacrificing manufacturing feasibility
2Reliability
If multiple dielectric layers are used in the semiconductor structure, then device performance is improved, but fabrication time and process complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the multiple dielectric layers from the semiconductor structure, retaining only the essential ceramic base and GaN-based semiconductor layers. This extraction removes unnecessary fabrication steps and reduces process complexity while maintaining the core device performance through the optimized ceramic-GaN interface
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of adding multiple dielectric layers to improve performance, the patent inverts the approach by using a ceramic base with inherent thermal and lattice matching properties that naturally enhance device performance without requiring additional dielectric layers, thereby reducing fabrication time
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach prevents thermal junction formation, reduces fabrication time, and eliminates cracking issues, resulting in improved performance and cost-effectiveness for GaN-based high electron mobility transistors.
Implementation Method 1
a seed layer and nucleation layer are conformally deposited
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor substrate is provided. The semiconductor substrate includes a ceramic base, a seed layer, and a nucleation layer. The ceramic base has a front surface and a back surface, and the front surface is a non-flat surface. The seed layer is disposed on the front surface of the ceramic substrate. The nucleation layer is disposed on the seed layer.