Evaluation of active semiconductor structures by combined scanning thermo-elastic microscopy and finite element simulations

Abstract
In this contribution we report on combined investigations of hot areas in a high power high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) using a scanning thermo-elastic microscope and finite element simulations of the problem. The sample was a AlGaN/GaN-HEMT grown on sapphire substrate, with a gold coating for improved thermal management. The FE simulations were performed based on the ANSYS program version 5.7. The thermo-elastic response was detected with an Explorer AFM-head of Topometrix. To allow simultaneous detection of the topology and of the thermo-elastic expansion images, the explorer had been modified for AFM measurements in the DC mode and at the double frequency of the thermal sinus in AFM contact mode. The thermo-elastic image of the hot area of the HEMT recorded at 2f shows a bright line as the hot area which is located along the gate, between gate and drain. The absolute value of the vertical expansion has been calibrated from the measured diode signal by use of the microscope's force-distance calibration curve. In order to obtain a reliable estimate of the maximum temperature on the hot line, the temperature image obtained by FE simulation is calibrated using the thermal expansion of the gold film of known thermal expansion coefficient.