GaN HEMT based high energy particles detection preamplifier

TL;DR

This paper investigates the use of GaN HEMT transistors in high-energy particle detection preamplifiers, demonstrating their superior speed and radiation resistance through simulation and experimental validation.

Contribution

It presents a novel application of GaN HEMTs in high-resolution radiation detectors, highlighting their fast response and robustness compared to traditional materials.

Findings

GaN HEMT preamplifiers show fast response with a slew rate of ~3000 V/μs.

Simulation results closely match real-world measurements, with only 17% difference.

GaN HEMTs outperform conventional materials in high-energy particle detection circuits.

Abstract

GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) have gained some foothold in the power electronics industry due to wide frequency bandwidth and power handling. The material offers a wide bandgap and higher critical field strength compared to most wide bandgap semiconductors, resulting in better radiation resistance and theoretically higher speeds as the devices dimensions could be reduced without suffering voltage breakdown. This work consists of the underlying simulation work intended to examine the response of the GaN HEMTs preamlifying circuits for high resolution high energy radiation detectors. The simulation and experimental results illustrate the superior performance of the GaN HEMT in an amplifying circuit. Using a spice model for a commercially available GaN HEMT non distorted output to an input signal of 200 ps was displayed. Real world measurements underscore the fast response of the GaN HEMT with its measured slew rate at approximately 3000 V /{\mu}s a result only 17% lower than the result obtained from the simulation.