Comparison of electrical characteristic between AlN/GaN and AlGaN/GaN heterostructure Schottky diodes

Ni/Au Schottky contacts on AlN/GaN and AlGaN/GaN heterostructures are fabricated.Based on the measured current–voltage and capacitance–voltage curves,the electrical characteristics of AlN/GaN Schottky diode,such as Schottky barrier height,turn-on voltage,reverse breakdown voltage,ideal factor,and the current-transport mechanism,are analyzed and then compared with those of an AlGaN/GaN diode by self-consistently solving Schrdinger’s and Poisson’s equations.It is found that the dislocation-governed tunneling is dominant for both AlN/GaN and AlGaN/GaN Schottky diodes.However,more dislocation defects and a thinner barrier layer for AlN/GaN heterostructure results in a larger tunneling probability,and causes a larger leakage current and lower reverse breakdown voltage,even though the Schottky barrier height of AlN/GaN Schottky diode is calculated to be higher that of an AlGaN/GaN diode.     

Determination of the series resistance under the Schottky contacts of AlGaN/AlN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes

Rectangular AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) were fabricated, and the gate and the source of the HFETs consisted of AlGaN/AlN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs). Based on the measured forward current-voltage and the capacitance-voltage characteristics of the AlGaN/AlN/GaN SBDs, the series resistance under the Schottky contacts (R_S) was calculated using the method of power consumption, which has been proved to be valid. Finally, the method of power consumption for calculating R_S was successfully used to study the two-dimensional electron gas electron mobility for a series of circular AlGaN/AlN/GaN SBDs. It is shown that the series resistance under the Schottky contacts cannot be neglected and is important for analysing and characterizing the AlGaN/AlN/GaN SBDs and the AlGaN/AlN/GaN HFETs.     

Al2O3绝缘层的AlGaN/GaN MOSHEMT器件研究

在研制AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件的基础上,采用ALD法制备了Al₂O₃ AlGaN/GaN MOSHEMT器件.通过X射线光电子能谱测试表明在AlGaN/GaN异质结材料上成功淀积了Al₂O₃薄膜.根据对HEMT和MOSHEMT器件肖特基电容、器件输出以及转移特性的测试进行分析发现：所制备的Al₂O₃薄膜与AlGaN外延层间界面态密度较小,因而MOSHEMT器件呈现出较 关键词： 2O₃')" href="#">Al₂O₃ ALD GaN MOSHEMT     

Effect of CO on Characteristics of AlGaN/GaN Schottky Diode

Pt Schottky diode gas sensors for CO are fabricated using A1GaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor（HEMTs）structure. The diodes show a remarkable sensor signal （3 mA, in N2, 2mA in air ambient） biased 2 V after 1% CO is introduced at 50℃. The Schottky barrier heights decrease for 36meV and 27meV in the two cases respectively. The devices exhibit a slow recovery characteristic in air ambient but almost none in the background of pure N2, which reveals that oxygen molecules could accelerate the desorption of CO and offer restrictions to CO detection.     

AlGaN/GaN异质结Ni/Au肖特基表面处理及退火研究

采用O₂等离子体及HF溶液对AlGaN/GaN异质结材料进行表面处理后，Ni/Au肖特基接触特性比未处理有了明显改善，反向泄漏电流减小3个数量级.对制备的肖特基接触进行200—600℃ 5min的N₂气氛退火，发现退火冷却后肖特基反向泄漏电流随退火温度增大进一步减小.N₂气中600℃退火后肖特基二极管C-V特性曲线在不同频率下一致性变好，这表明退火中Ni向材料表面扩散减小了表面陷阱密度；C-V特性曲线随退火温度增大向右移动，从二维电子气耗尽电压绝对值减小反映了肖特基势垒的提高. 关键词： AlGaN/GaN 肖特基接触 表面处理 退火     

Electric field breakdown of lateral-type Schottky diodes formed on lightly doped homoepitaxial diamond

The reverse current of lateral-type Schottky diodes fabricated on p-type homoepitaxial diamond was analyzed by changing the distance between Schottky and Ohmic electrodes and the metal materials in the Schottky electrodes. The maximum electric field at breakdown was 0.56 MV cm⁻¹ for the Au Schottky contact and less than 0.26 MV cm⁻¹ for the Al Schottky contact. The breakdown voltage depended on the electrode distance when the diamond surface was revealed in vacuum, whereas the Schottky diodes sustained the applied voltage of 500 V, corresponding to 0.69 MV cm⁻¹, after covering of the diamond surface with an insulating liquid. Diamond surface protection is an indispensable technique for fabrication of high-voltage Schottky diodes based on diamond.     

Leakage current and sub-bandgap photo-response of oxygen-plasma treated GaN Schottky barrier diodes

The effect of oxygen plasma treatment on the performance of GaN Schottky barrier diodes is studied. The GaN surface is intentionally exposed to oxygen plasma generated in an inductively coupled plasma etching system before Schottky metal deposition. The reverse leakage current of the treated diodes is suppressed in low bias range with enhanced diode ideality factor and series resistance. However, in high bias range the treated diodes exhibit higher reverse leakage current and corresponding lower breakdown voltage. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis reveals the growth of a thin GaO_x layer on GaN surface during oxygen plasma treatment. Under sub-bandgap light illumination, the plasma-treated diodes show larger photovoltaic response compared with that of untreated diodes, suggesting that additional defect states at GaN surface are induced by the oxygen plasma treatment.     

Influence of contact shape on AlGaN/GaN Schottky diode prepared on Si with thick buffer layer

A report on the fabrication and characterization of high performance conventional and ring-shaped AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diode on Si is presented. The resulting device exhibited low leakage current, which led to a detectivity performance of 3.48×10¹³ and 1.76×10¹³ cm?Hz^1/2 W^?1, respectively, for both conventional and ring-shaped Schottky diode. The differential resistances of both devices were obtained at approximately 1.37×10¹² and 1.41×10¹³ Ω, respectively. The zero bias peak responsivities of conventional and ring-shaped Schottky diodes were estimated to be 3.18 and 2.08 A?cm^?2/W, respectively. The typical UV to visible rejection ratio was observed over three orders of magnitude at zero bias. The C–V measurements was used to calculate and analyze the polarization sheet charge density of the AlGaN barrier layer by using self-consistently solving Schrodinger’s and Poisson’s equations. It is demonstrated that the ring shape of the Schottky barrier has higher polarization sheet charge density, which has the consequence that the Schottky shape has influence on the strain of the AlGaN barrier layer.     

Hydrogen Sensors Based on AlGaN/AlN/GaN Schottky Diodes

Pt/AlGaN/AlN/GaN Schottky diodes are fabricated and characterized for hydrogen sensing. The Pt Schottky contact and the Ti/Al/Ni/Au ohmic contact are formed by evaporation. Both the forward and reverse currents of the device increase greatly when exposed to hydrogen gas. A shift of 0.3 V at 300 K is obtained at a fixed forward current after switching from N2 to 10%H2＋N2. The sensor responses under different concentrations from 50ppm H2 to 10%H2＋N2 at 373K are investigated. Time dependences of the device forward current at 0.5 V forward bias in N2 and air atmosphere at 300 and 373K are compared. Oxygen in air azcelerates the desorption of the hydrogen and the recovery of the sensor. Finally, the decrease of the Schottky barrier height and sensitivity Of the sensor are calculated.     

High-temperature current conduction through three kinds of Schottky diodes

Fundamentals of the Schottky contacts and the high-temperature current conduction through three kinds of Schottky diodes are studied. N-Si Schottky diodes, GaN Schottky diodes and AlGaN/GaN Schottky diodes are investigated by I--V--T measurements ranging from 300 to 523~K. For these Schottky diodes, a rise in temperature is accompanied with an increase in barrier height and a reduction in ideality factor. Mechanisms are suggested, including thermionic emission, field emission, trap-assisted tunnelling and so on. The most remarkable finding in the present paper is that these three kinds of Schottky diodes are revealed to have different behaviours of high-temperature reverse currents. For the n-Si Schottky diode, a rise in temperature is accompanied by an increase in reverse current. The reverse current of the GaN Schottky diode decreases first and then increases with rising temperature. The AlGaN/GaN Schottky diode has a trend opposite to that of the GaN Schottky diode, and the dominant mechanisms are the effects of the piezoelectric polarization field and variation of two-dimensional electron gas charge density.     

Thermal stability of tungsten and tungsten nitride Schottky contacts to AlGaN/GaN

Thin tungsten nitride (WNx) films were produced by reactive DC magnetron sputtering of tungsten in an Ar-N2 gas mixture. The films were used as Schottky contacts on AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. The Schottky behaviours of WNx contact was investigated under various annealing conditions by current-voltage (I-V ) measurements. The results show that the gate leakage current was reduced to 10-6 A/cm2 when the N2 flow is 400 mL/min. The results also show that the WNx contact improved the thermal stability of Schottky contacts. Finally, the current transport mechanism in WNx/AlGaN/GaN Schottky diodes has been investigated by means of I-V characterisation technique at various temperatures between 300 K and 523 K. A TE model with a Gaussian distribution of Schottky barrier heights (SBHs) is thought to be responsible for the electrical behaviour at temperatures lower than 523 K.     

High vertical breakdown strength in with low specific on‐resistance AlGaN/AlN/GaN HEMTs on silicon

Off‐state and vertical breakdown characteristics of AlGaN/AlN/GaN high‐electron‐mobility transistors (HEMTs) on high‐resistivity (HR)‐Si substrate were investigated and analysed. Three‐terminal off‐state breakdown (BV_gd) was measured as a function of gate–drain spacing (L_gd). The saturation of BV_gd with L_gd is because of increased gate leakage current. HEMTs with L_gd = 6 µm exhibited a specific on‐resistance R_DS[ON] of 0.45 mΩ cm². The figure of merit (FOM = BV_gd²/R_DS[ON]) is as high as 2.0 × 10⁸ V² Ω^–1 cm^–2, the highest among the reported values for GaN HEMTs on Si substrate. A vertical breakdown of ～1000 V was observed on 1.2 µm thick buffer GaN/AlN grown on Si substrate. The occurrence of high breakdown voltage is due to the high quality of GaN/AlN buffer layers on Si substrate with reduced threading dislocations which has been confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This indicates that the AlGaN/AlN/GaN HEMT with 1.2 µm thick GaN/AlN buffer on Si substrate is promising candidate for high‐power and high‐speed switching device applications. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管肖特基高温退火机理研究

在不同应力条件下,研究了AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管高温退火前后的电流崩塌、栅泄漏电流以及击穿电压的变化.结果表明,AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管通过肖特基高温退火以后,器件的特性得到很大的改善.利用电镜扫描(SEM)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)对高温退火前、后的肖特基接触界面进行深入分析,发现器件经过高温退火后,Ni和AlGaN层之间介质的去除,并且AlGaN材料表面附近的陷阱减少,使得肖特基有效势垒提高,从而提高器件的电学特性. 关键词： AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管 肖特基接触 界面陷阱     

Influence of thermal stress on the characteristic parameters of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure Schottky contacts

Ni Schottky contacts on AlGaN/GaN heterostructures have been fabricated. The samples are then thermally treated in a furnace with N₂ ambient at 600 ^circC for different times (0.5, 4.5, 10.5, 18, 33, 48 and 72 h). Current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) relationships are measured, and Schrödinger's and Poisson's equations are self-consistently solved to obtain the characteristic parameters related to AlGaN/GaN heterostructure Schottky contacts: the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) sheet density, the polarization sheet charge density, the 2DEG distribution in the triangle quantum well and the Schottky barrier height for each thermal stressing time. Most of the above parameters reduce with the increase of stressing time, only the parameter of the average distance of the 2DEG from the AlGaN/GaN interface increases with the increase of thermal stressing time. The changes of the characteristic parameters can be divided into two stages. In the first stage the strain in the AlGaN barrier layer is present. In this stage the characteristic parameters change rapidly compared with those in the second stage in which the AlGaN barrier layer is relaxed and no strain is present.     

Effects of donor density and temperature on electron systems in AlGaN/AlN/GaN and AlGaN/GaN structures

It was reported by Shen et al that the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in an AlGaN/AlN/GaN structure showed high density and improved mobility compared with an AlGaN/GaN structure, but the potential of the AlGaN/AlN/GaN structure needs further exploration. By the self-consistent solving of one-dimensional Schr\"{o}dinger--Poisson equations, theoretical investigation is carried out about the effects of donor density (0--1\times 10¹⁹cm^-3 and temperature (50--500K) on the electron systems in the AlGaN/AlN/GaN and AlGaN/GaN structures. It is found that in the former structure, since the effective \Delta E_c is larger, the efficiency with which the 2DEG absorbs the electrons originating from donor ionization is higher, the resistance to parallel conduction is stronger, and the deterioration of 2DEG mobility is slower as the donor density rises. When temperature rises, the three-dimensional properties of the whole electron system become prominent for both of the structures, but the stability of 2DEG is higher in the former structure, which is also ascribed to the larger effective \Delta E_c. The Capacitance--Voltage (C-V) carrier density profiles at different temperatures are measured for two Schottky diodes on the considered heterostructure samples separately, showing obviously different 2DEG densities. And the temperature-dependent tendency of the experimental curves agrees well with our calculations.     

Ni/Au Schottky gate oxidation and BCB passivation for high-breakdown-voltage AlGaN/GaN HEMT

A new AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) employing Ni/Au Schottky gate oxidation and benzocyclobutene (BCB) passivation is fabricated in order to increase a breakdown voltage and forward drain current. The Ni/Au Schottky gate metal with a thickness of 50/300 nm is oxidized under oxygen ambient at 500 C and the highly resistive NiO is formed at the gate edge. The leakage current of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs is decreased from 4.94 μA to 3.34 nA due to the formation of NiO. The BCB, which has a low dielectric constant, successfully passivates AlGaN/GaN HEMTs by suppressing electron injection into surface states. The BCB passivation layer has a low capacitance, so BCB passivation increases the switching speed of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs compared with silicon nitride passivation, which has a high dielectric constant. The forward drain current of a BCB-passivated device is 199 mA /mm, while that of an unpassivated device is 172 mA /mm due to the increase in two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) charge.     

Study and optimal simulation of 4H-SiC floating junction Schottky barrier diodes’ structures and electric properties

This paper stuides the structures of 4H-SiC floating junction Schottky barrier diodes. Some structure parameters of devices are optimized with commercial simulator based on forward and reverse electrical characteristics. Compared with conventional power Schottky barrier diodes, the devices are featured by highly doped drift region and embedded floating junction layers, which can ensure high breakdown voltage while keeping lower specific on-state resistance, and solve the contradiction between forward voltage drop and breakdown voltage. The simulation results show that with optimized structure parameter, the breakdown voltage can reach 4.36 kV and the specific on-resistance is 5.8 mΩ·cm2 when the Baliga figure of merit value of 13.1 GW/cm2 is achieved.     

中子辐照对AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管器件电特性的影响

本文采用能量为1 MeV的中子对SiN钝化的AlGaN/GaN HEMT(高电子迁移率晶体管)器件进行了最高注量为1015cm-2的辐照.实验发现:当注量小于1014cm-2时,器件特性退化很小,其中栅电流有轻微变化(正向栅电流IF增加,反向栅电流IR减小),随着中子注量上升,IR迅速降低.而当注量达到1015cm-2时,在膝点电压附近,器件跨导有所下降.此外,中子辐照后,器件欧姆接触的方块电阻退化很小,而肖特基特性退化却相对明显.通过分析发现辐照在SiN钝化层中引入的感生缺陷引起了膝点电压附近漏电流和反向栅泄漏电流的减小.以上结果也表明,SiN钝化可以有效地抑制中子辐照感生表面态电荷,从而屏蔽了绝大部分的中子辐照影响.这也证明SiN钝化的AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件很适合在太空等需要抗位移损伤的环境中应用.     

Control of surfaces and heterointerfaces of AlGaN/GaN system for sensor devices and their on-chip integration on nanostructures

For successful construction of sensor devices and their future on-chip integration on nanostructures, this paper discusses the present status of understanding and control of surfaces and heterointerfaces of the AlGaN/GaN material system by reviewing a series of works recently carried out by the authors’ group.Leakage currents in Schottky contacts are explained by the authors’ thin surface barrier (TSB) model. An important role is played by oxygen shallow donors in leakage in AlGaN Schottky diodes. A large leakage reduction has been achieved by a novel surface control process for oxygen gettering. An unprecedented high sensitivity has been obtained in AlGaN/GaN Schottky diode hydrogen sensor by applying the surface control process. Liquid-phase AlGaN/GaN sensors having an open-gate HFET structure show a very good pH sensing capability as well as a good sensing capability of polar liquids. Finally, the selective MBE growth of AlGaN/GaN nanowire network is discussed as a basic hardware structure for the on-chip integration of sensors, paying attention to the heterointerface control.     

1000 V p-GaN混合阳极AlGaN/GaN二极管

GaN材料具有优异的电学特性,如大的禁带宽度(3.4 eV)、高击穿场强(3.3 MV/cm)和高电子迁移率(600 cm~2/(V·s)). AlGaN/GaN异质结由于压电极化和自发极化效应,产生高密度(1×10~(13)cm~(-2))和高迁移率(2000 cm~2/(V·s))的二维电子气(2DEG),在未来的功率系统中, AlGaN/GaN二极管具有极大的应用前景.二极管的开启电压和击穿电压是影响其损耗和功率处理能力的关键参数,本文提出了一种新型的具有高阻盖帽层(high-resistance-cap-layer, HRCL)的p-GaN混合阳极AlGaN/GaN二极管来优化其开启电压和击穿特性.在p-GaN/AlGaN/GaN材料结构基础上,通过自对准的氢等离子体处理技术,在沟道区域形成高阻盖帽层改善电场分布,提高击穿电压,同时在阳极区域保留p-GaN结构,用于耗尽下方的二维电子气,调控开启电压.制备的p-GaN混合阳极(p-GaN HRCL)二极管在阴阳极间距Lac为10μm时,击穿电压大于1 kV,开启电压+1.2 V.实验结果表明, p-GaN混合阳极和高阻GaN盖帽层的引入,有效改善AlGaN/GaN肖特基势垒二极管电学性能.