Transport mechanism of reverse surface leakage current in AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor with SiN passivation

The transport mechanism of reverse surface leakage current in the AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor(HEMT) becomes one of the most important reliability issues with the downscaling of feature size.In this paper,the research results show that the reverse surface leakage current in AlGaN/GaN HEMT with SiN passivation increases with the enhancement of temperature in the range from 298 K to 423 K.Three possible transport mechanisms are proposed and examined to explain the generation of reverse surface leakage current.By comparing the experimental data with the numerical transport models,it is found that neither Fowler-Nordheim tunneling nor Frenkel-Poole emission can describe the transport of reverse surface leakage current.However,good agreement is found between the experimental data and the two-dimensional variable range hopping(2D-VRH) model.Therefore,it is concluded that the reverse surface leakage current is dominated by the electron hopping through the surface states at the barrier layer.Moreover,the activation energy of surface leakage current is extracted,which is around 0.083 eV.Finally,the SiN passivated HEMT with a high Al composition and a thin AlGaN barrier layer is also studied.It is observed that 2D-VRH still dominates the reverse surface leakage current and the activation energy is around 0.10 eV,which demonstrates that the alteration of the AlGaN barrier layer does not affect the transport mechanism of reverse surface leakage current in this paper.     

晶格匹配InAlN/GaN异质结肖特基接触反向电流的电压与温度依赖关系

测量了晶格匹配InAlN/GaN异质结肖特基接触的反向变温电流-电压特性曲线,研究了反向漏电流的偏压与温度依赖关系.结果表明:1)电流是电压和温度的强函数,饱和电流远大于理论值,无法采用经典热发射模型解释;2)在低偏压区,数据满足ln(I/E)-E^1/2线性依赖关系,电流斜率和激活能与Frenkel-Poole模型的理论值接近,表明电流应该为FP机制占主导;3)在高偏压区,数据满足ln(I/E)-E^1/2线性依赖关系,电流斜率不随温度改变,表明Fowler-Nordheim隧穿机制占主导;4)反向电流势垒高度约为0.60 eV,远低于热发射势垒高度2.91 eV,表明可导位错应是反向漏电流的主要输运通道,局域势垒由于潜能级施主态电离而被极大降低.     

Mechanisms of asymmetric leakage current in Pt/Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3/Nb-SrTiO3 capacitor

Mechanisms of leakage current have been investigated in the capacitor consisting of a Ba_0.6Sr_0.4TiO₃ thin film, a Pt top electrode, and a Nb-doped SrTiO₃ (STON) bottom electrode. The leakage current shows asymmetric behavior for different bias voltage. For the Pt electrode negatively biased, the leakage current can be explained by modified Schottky emission mechanism, and the barrier height is obtained as 0.44 eV. For the Pt electrode positively biased, the leakage current shows a space-charge-limited current behavior. The trap in dielectric film is regarded as deep traps, and the density of trapped carrier is estimated as about 3.2×10²³/m³. PACS 77     

GaN肖特基二极管的正向电流输运和低频噪声行为

首先测量了GaN肖特基二极管的正向变温电流-电压特性,研究了其电流输运机制,然后分析了在不同注入电流条件下的低频噪声行为.结果表明:1)在正向高电压区,热发射机制占主导,有效势垒高度约为1.25 eV;2)在正向低偏压区(V <0.8 V),与位错相关的缺陷辅助隧穿电流占主导,有效势垒高度约为0.92 eV (T=300 K);3)在极小电流(I <1μA)和极低频率(f <10 Hz)下,洛伦兹型噪声才会出现;电子的渡越时间取决于多个缺陷对电子的不断捕获和释放过程,典型时间常数约为30 ms (I=1μA);4)在更高频率和电流下,低频1/f噪声占主导;电流的输运主要受到势垒高度的随机波动的影响,所对应的系数约为1.1.     

Electronic relaxation of deep bulk trap and interface state in ZnO ceramics

This paper investigates the electronic relaxation of deep bulk trap and interface state in ZnO ceramics based on dielectric spectra measured in a wide range of temperature, frequency and bias, in addition to the steady state response. It discusses the nature of net current flowing over the barrier affected by interface state, and then obtains temperature-dependent barrier height by approximate calculation from steady I--V (current--voltage) characteristics. Additional conductance and capacitance arising from deep bulk trap relaxation are calculated based on the displacement of the cross point between deep bulk trap and Fermi level under small AC signal. From the resonances due to deep bulk trap relaxation on dielectric spectra, the activation energies are obtained as 0.22 eV and 0.35 eV, which are consistent with the electronic levels of the main defect interstitial Zn and vacancy oxygen in the depletion layer. Under moderate bias, another resonance due to interface relaxation is shown on the dielectric spectra. The DC-like conductance is also observed in high temperature region on dielectric spectra, and the activation energy is much smaller than the barrier height in steady state condition, which is attributed to the displacement current coming from the shallow bulk trap relaxation or other factors.     

Mechanism of current flow in alloyed ohmic In/GaAs contacts

A mechanism of current flow in an alloyed ohmic In contact to low-doped gallium arsenide (n = 4 × 10¹⁵ cm^?3) is studied. From the temperature dependence of the contact resistance per unit surface area, it is found that the basic mechanism of current flow is thermionic emission through a potential barrier 0.03 eV in height.     

The study on the surface state of CdZnTe (1 1 0) surface

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) was used to characterize the surface state of clean CdZnTe (1 1 0) surface. The surface state of CdZnTe with the peak at 0.9 eV below the Fermi level is identified. Meanwhile, Photoluminescence (PL) spectrum confirmed that there existed a surface trap state which introduced a deep-level peak at 1.510 eV. The surface trap states can be decreased by aging in dry-air. The surface leakage current was measured also by I-V measurements. After aging, the leakage current was decreased remarkably, which suggested that the aging treatment is an effective method to decrease the surface trap state.     

The Transport Mechanisms of Reverse Leakage Current in Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes

The transport mechanisms of the reverse leakage current in the UV light-emitting diodes(380 nm) are investigated by the temperature-dependent current-voltage measurement first.Three possible transport mechanisms,the space-limited-charge conduction,the variable-range hopping and the Poole-Frenkel emission,are proposed to explain the transport process of the reverse leakage current above 295 K,respectively.With the in-depth investigation,the former two transport mechanisms are excluded.It is found that the experimental data agree well with the Poole-Frenkel emission model.Furthermore,the activation energies of the traps that cause the reverse leakage current are extracted,which are 0.05 eV,0.09 eV,and O.lleV,respectively.This indicates that at least three types of trap states are located below the bottom of the conduction band in the depletion region of the UV LEDs.     

Copper as an electron trap in GaAs0.6P0.4

An electron trap having an energy level of 0.14 eV from the conduction band edge was found in the bulk of copper-diffused VPE-grown n-GaAs_0.6P_0.4 by conventional DLTS measurements and by pulse-duration dependent capacitance amplitude measurements. The capture cross section at room temperature is about 1.0×10^–21 cm² and has a weak temperature dependence. These properties are attributed to a non-repulsive center having a capturing mechanism which involves multiphonon emission processes with hardly any lattice relaxation. Evolution of the spatial distributions of the traps with time under junction electric field were studied. The results suggest that the trap is positively charged and has a high diffusivity under electric field. The center can thus be identified as positively charged interstitial copper ion rather than some form of copper complexes.     

单层有机器件的电子传输特性的数值模拟

在漂移扩散模型的基础上建立了单层有机器件的模型,包括了电荷注入、传输、空间电荷效应和陷阱的影响.电荷注入考虑了热电子发射电流和隧道电流.模拟得到的结果和文献中报道的实验测试数据一致.模拟研究了各个因素对器件J-V曲线的影响,电流和器件长度成反比,电流随着空穴注入势垒的减小而增加.电子注入势垒从1.7 eV减少到0.5 eV时,电流随着电子注入势垒的减小而减小,这主要是因为有机材料中电子迁移率太小,电子注入电流的增加可以忽略,而电子注入势垒的减小使内建势增加,在同样的电压下,场强 关键词： 有机器件 传输特性 数值模拟     

分子束外延生长GaAs/Si异质结电学特性的研究

利用样品Au-GaAs/p-Si的肖特基势垒二极管特性和深能级瞬态谱(DCTS),研究Si衬底上分子束外延生长的GaAs异质结的电学特性。I-V特性表明样品有大的漏电流存在,而快速热退火处理则能使样品I-V特性得以改善,并接近半绝缘GaAs(S.I.GaAs)上生长的Au-GaAs/S.I.GaAs样品的特性,它的来源不是热电子发射或产生-复合电流所引起,而可归结于缺陷参与的隧穿机制,它可通过快速热退火处理得以减小。DCTS谱表明在样品中可观察到Ec-0.41eV和Ec-0.57eV两个电子陷阱,前者可能 关键词：     

The degradation mechanism of an AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor under step-stress

Step-stress experiments are performed in this paper to investigate the degradation mechanism of an AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor(HEMT).It is found that the stress current shows a recoverable decrease during each voltage step and there is a critical voltage beyond which the stress current starts to increase sharply in our experiments.We postulate that defects may be randomly induced within the AlGaN barrier by the high electric field during each voltage step.But once the critical voltage is reached,the trap concentration will increase sharply due to the inverse piezoelectric effect.A leakage path may be introduced by excessive defect,and this may result in the permanent degradation of the AlGaN/GaN HEMT.     

Graphene with the secondary amine-terminated zigzag edge as a line electron emitter

An extraordinary low vacuum barrier height of 2.30?eV has been found on the zigzag-edge of graphene terminated with the secondary amine via the ab?initio calculation. This edge structure has a flat band of edge states attached to the gamma point where the transversal kinetic energy is vanishing. We show that the field electron emission is dominated by the flat band. The edge states pin the Fermi level to a constant, leading to an extremely narrow emission energy width. The graphene with such edge is a promising line field electron emitter that can produce a highly coherent emission current.     

Sulphide passivation of GaN based Schottky diodes

Wet chemical passivation of n-GaN surface was carried out by dipping GaN samples in ammonium sulphide diluted in aqueous and alcoholic solvent base solutions. Photoluminescence (PL) investigations indicated that sulphide solution effectively led to the reduction of GaN surface states. Increased band edge PL peak showed that S²⁻ ions are more active in alcohol based solvents. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed reduction in surface oxides by introduction of sulphide species. Ni/n-GaN Schottky barrier diodes were fabricated on passivated surfaces. Remarkable improvement in the Schottky barrier height (0.98 eV for passivated diodes as compared to 0.75 eV for untreated diodes) has been observed.     

The conduction mechanism of stress induced leakage current through ultra-thin gate oxide under constant voltage stresses

The conduction mechanism of stress induced leakage current （SILC） through 2nm gate oxide is studied over a gate voltage range between 1.7V and stress voltage under constant voltage stress （CVS）. The simulation results show that the SILC is formed by trap-assisted tunnelling （TAT） process which is dominated by oxide traps induced by high field stresses. Their energy levels obtained by this work are approximately 1.9eV from the oxide conduction band, and the traps are believed to be the oxygen-related donor-like defects induced by high field stresses. The dependence of the trap density on stress time and oxide electric field is also investigated.     

4H-SiC肖特基二极管的电荷收集特性

针对极端环境下耐辐照半导体核探测器的研制需求,采用耐高温、耐辐照的4H碳化硅(4H-SiC)宽禁带材料制成肖特基二极管,研究了该探测器对241Am源粒子的电荷收集效率。从电容-电压曲线得出该二极管外延层净掺杂数密度为1.991015/cm3。从正向电流-电压曲线获得该二极管肖特基势垒高度为1.66 eV,理想因子为1.07,表明该探测器具备良好的热电子发射特性。在反向偏压高达700 V时,该二极管未击穿,其漏电流仅为21 nA,具有较高的击穿电压。在反向偏压为0~350 V范围内研究了该探测器对3.5 MeV 粒子电荷收集效率,在0 V时为48.7%,在150 V时为99.4%,表明该探测器具有良好的电荷收集特性。     

Effect of SiN:H_x passivation layer on the reverse gate leakage current in GaN HEMTs

This paper concentrates on the impact of SiN passivation layer deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition(PECVD) on the Schottky characteristics in GaN high electron mobility transistors(HEMTs). Three types of SiN layers with different deposition conditions were deposited on GaN HEMTs. Atomic force microscope(AFM), capacitance-voltage(C-V), and Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) measurement were used to analyze the surface morphology, the electrical characterization, and the chemical bonding of SiN thin films, respectively. The better surface morphology was achieved from the device with lower gate leakage current. The fixed positive charge Q_f was extracted from C-V curves of Al/SiN/Si structures and quite different density of trap states(in the order of magnitude of 1011-1012 cm~(-2)) was observed.It was found that the least trap states were in accordance with the lowest gate leakage current. Furthermore, the chemical bonds and the %H in Si-H and N-H were figured from FTIR measurement, demonstrating an increase in the density of Q_f with the increasing %H in N-H. It reveals that the effect of SiN passivation can be improved in GaN-based HEMTs by modulating %H in Si-H and N-H, thus achieving a better Schottky characteristics.     

AlGaN/GaN 高电子迁移率晶体管漏电流退化机理研究

本文首先制备了与AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管 (HEMT) 结构与特性等效的AlGaN/GaN异质结肖特基二极管, 采用步进应力测试比较了不同栅压下器件漏电流的变化情况, 然后基于电流-电压和电容-电压测试验证了退化前后漏电流的传输机理, 并使用失效分析技术光发射显微镜 (EMMI) 观测器件表面的光发射, 研究了漏电流的时间依赖退化机理. 实验结果表明: 在栅压高于某临界值后, 器件漏电流随时间开始增加, 同时伴有较大的噪声. 将极化电场引入电流与电场的依赖关系后, 器件退化前后的 log(I_FT/E)与√E 都遵循良好的线性关系, 表明漏电流均由电子Frenkel-Poole (FP) 发射主导. 退化后 log(I_FT/E)与√E 曲线斜率的减小, 以及利用EMMI在栅边缘直接观察到了与缺陷存在对应关系的“热点”, 证明了漏电流退化的机理是: 高电场在AlGaN层中诱发了新的缺陷, 而缺陷密度的增加导致了FP发射电流I_FT的增加. 关键词： AlGaN/GaN 高电子迁移率晶体管 漏电流 退化机理     

Improved interfacial and electrical properties of GaSb metal oxide semiconductor devices passivated with acidic （NH4）2S solution

Surface passivation with acidic(NH4)2S solution is shown to be effective in improving the interfacial and electrical properties of HfO2/GaSb metal oxide semiconductor devices. Compared with control samples, the samples treated with acidic(NH4)2S solution show great improvements in gate leakage current, frequency dispersion, border trap density, and interface trap density. These improvements are attributed to the enhancing passivation of the substrates, according to analysis from the perspective of chemical mechanism, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and high-resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy.     

New mechanism for electron emission from planar cold cathodes: the solid-state field-controlled electron emitter

A new mechanism for electron emission from planar cathodes is described. The theoretical analysis shows that, with an ultrathin wide band-gap semiconductor layer (UTSC) on a metal, the surface barrier is lowered to approximately 0.1 eV due to the creation of a space charge induced by the electrons injected from the metal. The barrier height depends mostly on the UTSC thickness and not on the state of the surface, as in thermionic and field emissions. This mechanism explains the measured stable emission at 300 K and 10(-7) Torr, with a threshold field of only approximately 50 V/&mgr;m, from these solid-state field-controlled emitters.