Abstract:
To study the radiation tolerance of a certain type of GaN power amplifier, heavy ion irradiation experiments are carried out. The test device consists of a GaN HEMT, and several MOS capacitors and inductors. The heavy ions of 205 MeV Ge
+13 with the LET value of 37.4 MeV·cm
2/mg are used. The experimental results show that the performance of the GaN HEMT remains not changed, while the dielectric breakdown of the MOS capacitor results in the failure of the GaN power devices. The critical breakdown voltage of the MOS capacitors due to the single event dielectric rupture is calculated by an empirical formula, and the results are basically in agreement with the heavy ion test results. It is concluded that the failure of the GaN power amplifier is due to the single event dielectric rupture of the MOS capacitor. The results show that the MOS capacitors are sensitive to the single event dielectric breakdown and the single event effect should be considered for the MOS capacitors in hybrid in the space application.