Analysis of the physical mechanisms limiting performance and reliability of GaN based HEMTs

Acknowledgments 1 Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge prof. Labat, prof. Nathalie Malbert and prof. André Touboul for their guidance, support, and the freedom to explore my own ideas; Alessandro Chini, prof. Gaudenzio Meneghesso, prof Enrico Zanoni and all the members of their group, as well as the members of the NNL laboratory, for the great cooperative work in Italy; Mohsine Bouya, Arnaud Curutchet, Yannick Deshayes, and Dominique Carisetti for their cooperative work during my staying in France; prof. Roberto Menozzi and prof. Christophe Gaquiere for accepting to take part of my Ph. all the members of Elecom laboratory for contributing to create a good environment of work. members of MD Microdetectors for their encouragement. I'm very grateful to all the members of my family, especially to my sister and my parents who have always supported me. A special thank to my parents-in-law, my sisters-in-law and my brother-in-law for their encouragement. Finally I'm extremely indebted to my wife, without whom, this Ph.D would never have been possible. I would like to thank her for the continuous encouragement, understanding, tenderness, and for everything she did for me. High school diploma in " electrical studies and automation " , Vignola (Italy). Characterization and analysis of trap-related effects in AlGaN–GaN HEMTs ". Physical investigation of high-field degradation mechanisms in GaN/AlGaN/GaN HEMTs ". Effects of surface and buffer traps in passivated AlGaN-GaN HEMTs " WOCSDICE. leuven, Belgium. May 2008. False surface-trap signatures induced by buffer traps in AlGaN-GaN HEMTs " , IRPS 2009. of the effects of surface and buffer traps in passivated AlGaN-GaN HEMTs ", Journées nano, micro et optoélectronique, JNMO, (France), 2008