Room Temperature Rejuvenation Technology for Irradiated Gallium Nitride Transistors

Abstract High‐temperature annealing remains the primary technique for mitigating radiation damage in electronic devices. In this study, a novel alternative is demonstrated that is capable of operating at room temperature within minutes, specifically targeting GaN high‐electron‐mobility transistors (HEMTs). These devices inherently possess defects introduced during fabrication, largely due to lattice and thermal mismatches. It is hypothesized that such defects serve as nucleation sites for radiation‐induced damage. To address this, two strategies are introduced for rapid, room‐temperature annealing based on the Electron Wind Force (EWF). The first, preemptive annealing, reduces native defects in pristine devices prior to irradiation. The second, restorative annealing, repairs devices following radiation exposure. DC and pulsed characterization results show that preemptively annealed HEMTs exhibit enhanced post‐irradiation performance—surpassing even unirradiated counterparts—while restorative EWF treatment rejuvenates damaged devices, often restoring electrical characteristics beyond their original state. In contrast, conventional thermal annealing at 400 °C for over 8 h not only fails to recover device performance but further degrades it, likely due to thermo‐elastic stress. These findings position EWF annealing as a faster, more effective, and thermally efficient solution for defect mitigation and radiation damage recovery in GaN HEMTs.