Poole-Frenkel Electron Emission from the Traps in AlGaN/GaN Transistors

We present a detailed study of the effects of electric field and temperature on the rate of electron emission from the barrier traps in AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors. We demonstrate, that for temperatures above 250 K, the Poole-Frenkel (PF) emission is the dominant mechanism for electrons to escape from the trapping centers. The emission rate increases exponentially with the square root of the applied field consistent with the decrease of the apparent activation energy predicted by the PF model.