Degradation Evaluation of Single-Event Effects Induced by Heavy-Ion Irradiation on E-mode p-GaN Gate HEMT Devices

To assess the single-event effects (SEE) resistance of enhancement-mode (e-mode) p-GaN gate HEMT devices for aerospace applications, heavy-ion irradiation tests were conducted on the devices, featuring a 25 A conduction current and a 350 V breakdown voltage. Post-Irradiation degradation were evaluated through electrical analyses under varying bias and linear energy transfer (LET) conditions. The devices exhibited zero Single Event Burnout (SEB) under off-state conditions at a drain voltage of 250 V, even when exposed to heavy-ion irradiation with a LET of 82.8 MeV · cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> /mg and fluence of 1 × 10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">7</sup> ions · cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">- 2</sup>. Degradation severity showed pronounced sensitivity to bias conditions and LET, with threshold voltage (Vth) shifts recognized as the main variation. These findings affirm the SEE resistance of the e-mode p-GaN gate HEMT device.