A comprehensive investigation into the electrothermal behaviour of AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT) is presented in this work, by means of validated physics-based TCAD simulations. The focus is on the impact of different field-plate (FP) architectures, including source-connected field-plate (SC-FP), gate-connected field-plate (GC-FP), and without FP structures, on the thermal resistance (RTH) of the HEMT. A key finding is the identification of multiple RTH regions in the field-plated HEMT, a direct consequence of the primary hotspot dynamically evolving from the gate-edge, to a dual-hotspot configuration, and finally migrating to the FP edge with increasing power levels; in contrast to the single RTH of the HEMT without FP. This multi-RTH characteristic is consistent in both SC-FP and GC-FP structures. Moreover, the channel temperature profile is nearly identical in both FPs. The influence of passivation thickness (tSiN) and field-plate length (LFP), on RTH is systematically investigated. The results reveal a critical design trade-off; thicker passivation improves electrical insulation but thermally decouples the FP effect, while thinner tSiN increases the electric field at the FP edge. The increased LFP leads to a corresponding reduction in the RTH. Hence, integrated electrothermal co-design is a fundamental prerequisite for optimizing the performance and reliability of the HEMTs.
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