Le travail de thèse consiste à étudier des composants de la filière nitrure de gallium à partir d’études électriques et d’un modèle physico-thermique. Les dispositifs de cette filière sont très prometteurs pour des applications de puissance en hyperfréquence. Cependant, leurs performances électriques sont limitées par deux causes principales : La première cause est liée à la réalisation des contacts. Dans ce travail, nous avons étudié des contacts Schottky TiN sur hétérostructures AlGaN/GaN sur substrats Si (111) réalisés par pulvérisation magnétron. Une analyse détaillée des paramètres obtenus, tels que la hauteur de barrière, le coefficient d’idéalité et le courant de fuite en polarisation inverse, permet d’optimiser la topologie et le procédé technologique, tels que la température et la durée de recuit, la passivation et le prétraitement de surface. La théorie relative aux mécanismes de conduction à travers le contact est aussi rappelée, montrant que l’effet tunnel assisté par champ électrique et le courant limité par charge d’espace sont les mécanismes dominants. La seconde cause est liée à l’effet d’auto-échauffement important dans les composants de la filière GaNcompte tenu des fortes puissances dissipées, ce qui dégrade leurs performances électriques ainsi que la fiabilité. Dans ce cadre, un modèle physico-thermique basé sur le couplage d’un modèle énergie-balance avec un modèle thermique a été développé. Ce modèle prend en compte la température de réseau en tout point du composant et décrit bien les performances électriques et thermiques des composants de cette filière. Grâce au modèle développé, nous avons d’abord analysé les hétérostructures AlGaN/GaN et InAlN/GaN sur différents substrats à partir de structures TLM, afin d’évaluer leurs performances électriques et thermiques, et ainsi d’optimiser le choix des substrats. Nous avons également étudié les diodes Gunn de la filière GaN avec différentes topologies, ce qui a permis d’optimiser une structure en termes de fréquence d’oscillations et de conversion de puissance, en prenant en compte les effets thermiques. Après une comparaison entre les résultats de simulation et ceux mesurés, il s’avère que le modèle physico-thermique est un outil de prédiction précis et fiable, extrêmement utile pour les technologues et qui permet en outre une meilleure compréhension des phénomènes physiques observés. / The work of this thesis is dedicated to study gallium nitride based components by means of electric studies and a physical-thermal model. The GaN based devices are very promising for high-frequency microwave power applications. However, their electric performances are limited by two principal causes: The first cause is related to the contacts realization. In this work, we studied TiN Schottky contacts on AlGaN/GaN heterostructures on Si (111) substrates realized by magnetron spray. A detailed analysis of the obtained parameters, such as the barrier height, the ideality factor and the reverse leakage current, permits optimizing the topology and the technological processes, such as the annealing temperature and time, thepassivation and the surface pre-etching. The theory related to the conduction mechanisms through the contact is also recalled, showing that the electric field assisted tunnel effect and the space charge limited current are the dominant mechanisms. The second cause is related to the important self-heating effect in the GaN based components inconsideration of the high dissipated power, which degrades the electric performances and the reliability as well. In this framework, a physical-thermal model based on the coupling of an energy-balance model with a thermal model was developed. Such a model takes into account the lattice temperature everywhere in the device and describes the electric and thermal performances of GaN based components. Thanks to the developed model, firstly the AlGaN/GaN and InAlN/GaN heterostructures were analyzed on different substrates by means of TLM patterns, in order to evaluate their electric and thermal performances so as to optimize the substrate choice. The GaN based Gunn diodes with different topologies were also studied with the goal to optimize a structure in terms of frequency oscillation and power conversion, taking into account the thermal effects. After a comparison between the simulation results and the measured ones, it is proved that the physical-thermal model is an accurate and reliable predictive tool, which is extremely useful for the technologists and furthermore, permits a better understanding of the observed physical phenomena.

Monte Carlo modelling is a common technique in numerous fields, and is widely used in semiconductor device simulation. This thesis describes the application of Monte Carlo modelling to the simulation of Gunn diode devices, focusing on devices composed of Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Gallium Nitride (GaN). Gunn diodes are simple structures that take advantage of negative differential resistance to act as a source of high frequency radiation, from 10 GHz to over 100 GHz in GaAs devices. It has been theorised that GaN should exhibit negative differential resistance and a GaN Gunn diode could produce radiation of even higher frequency, within the terahertz band. Gunn diodes have the advantage of being cheap and portable, and so are worth exploring as such a source. Unfortunately, GaN devices have a high electron density and so they tend to generate heat quickly. It therefore becomes important to include modelling of heat generation and flow in simulations of these devices. This is uncommon in Monte Carlo models of Gunn diodes, as in less highly doped devices thermal effects can usually be assumed to result in the device reaching an equilibrium temperature of about 100 K above the ambient. This thesis describes the creation of a model to track the generation and distribution of heat during operation of a GaN device. Simulations found that thermal effects within the device were significant. Heat generation occurred to the extent that the device could only be operated in pulsed mode, with on pulses of 2 ns requiring 50 ns of cooling for sustainable operation. The increased temperature within the device also lead to deleterious changes in the Gunn diode's operating frequency. In the simulated device, a 150 K change in temperature lead to a decrease in operating frequency of 40 GHz, from an initial frequency of 280 GHz. At the end of 2 ns of operation, the mean temperature within the device had increased by 120 K. The high accidental doping level in GaN also means the use of a doping notch to act as a nucleation point for dipoles within a Gunn diode, a common technique in other materials, becomes less feasible. As an alternative to a notch, a device was simulated incorporating a doping spike to nucleate the dipole. The use of a doping spike is not novel, however its use in GaN has not been previously explored. Simulations found that a fully-depleted p-type doping notch of length 2.1 nm, doped at 1x1024 m-3 would act as a nucleation point for dipole operation. The device was compared to a simulated device incorporating a doping notch of width 0.25 µm doped at 0.5x1023 m-3 and found to operate at a similar frequency and RF efficiency, making it a viable substitute. One limitation of Gunn diodes is that when operated in transit-time mode, the operating frequency is determined by the length of the diode's transit region and so is well-defined and fixed. This means that traditional Gunn diodes are not as useful a source of radiation for spectroscopic applications as might be desirable. Recent experimental results for planar devices have shown a broadening in operation frequency and even multiple frequencies. This thesis explores the hypothesis that such a broadening might be achieved in a vertical structure via the incorporation of an additional notch into the Gunn diode's transit region, effectively incorporating two transit regions into the device. Results showed that this novel device structure did show multiple modes of operation. Under a DC applied voltage, the device showed spontaneous switching behaviour, oscillating between dipole and accumulation layer operation from the second notch. Changes in the frequency of an applied RF voltage would shift the device from operating from the first or second notch, in dipole and accumulation layer mode respectively.

Thesis (DTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / Gunn diodes play a prominent role in the development of low-cost and reliable solid-state oscillators for diverse applications, such as in the military, security, automotive and consumer electronics industries. The primary focus of the research presented here is the optimisation of GaAs and GaN Gunn diodes for mm-wave operations, through rigorous Monte Carlo particle simulations. A novel, empirical technique to determine the upper operational frequency limit of devices based on the transferred electron mechanism is presented. This method exploits the hysteresis of the dynamic velocity-field curves of semiconductors to establish the upper frequency limit of the transferred electron mechanism in bulk material that supports this mechanism. The method can be applied to any bulk material exhibiting negative differential resistance. The simulations show that the upper frequency limits of the fundamental mode of operation for GaAs Gunn diodes are between 80 GHz and 100 GHz, and for GaN Gunn diodes between 250 GHz and 300 GHz, depending on the operating conditions. These results, based on the simulated bulk material characteristics, are confirmed by the simulated mm-wave performance of the GaAs and GaN Gunn devices. GaAs diodes are shown to exhibit a fundamental frequency limit of 90 GHz, but with harmonic power available up to 186_GHz. Simulated GaN diodes are capable of generating appreciable output power at operational frequencies up to 250 GHz in the fundamental mode, with harmonic output power available up to 525 GHz. The research furthermore establishes optimised doping profiles for two-domain GaAs Gunn diodes and single- and two-domain GaN Gunn diodes. The relevant design parameters that have been optimised, are the dimensions and doping profile of the transit regions, the width of the doping notches and buffer region (for two-domain devices), and the bias voltage. In the case of GaAs diodes, hot electron injection has also been implemented to improve the efficiency and output power of the devices. Multi-domain operation has been explored for both GaAs and GaN devices and found to be an effective way of increasing the output power. However, it is the opinion of the author that a maximum number of two domains is feasible for both GaAs and GaN diodes due to the significant increase in thermal heating associated with an increase in the number of transit regions. It has also been found that increasing the doping concentration of the transit region exponentially over the last 25% towards the anode by a factor of 1.5 above the nominal doping level enhances the output power of the diodes.