Thermal stability of Ti/Al/Pt/Au and Ti/Au Ohmic contacts on n-type ZnCdO

The specific contact resistivity and chemical intermixing of Ti/Au and Ti/Al/Pt/Au Ohmic contacts on n-type Zn_0.05Cd_0.95O layers grown on ZnO buffer layers on GaN/sapphire templates is reported as a function of annealing temperature in the range 200-600 °C. A minimum contact resistivity of 2.3 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm² was obtained at 500 °C for Ti/Al/Pt/Au and 1.6 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm² was obtained at 450 °C for Ti/Al. These values also correspond to the minima in transfer resistance for the contacts. The Ti/Al/Pt/Au contacts show far smoother morphologies after annealing even at 600 °C, whereas the Ti/Au contacts show a reacted appearance after 350 °C anneals. In the former case, Pt and Al outdiffusion is significant at 450 °C, whereas in the latter case the onset of Ti and Zn outdiffusion is evident at the same temperature. The improvement in contact resistance with annealing is suggested to occur through formation of TiO_x phases that induce oxygen vacancies in the ZnCdO.     

低接触电阻率Ni/Ag/Ti/Au反射镜电极的研究

研究了Ag的厚度、退火时间、沉积温度对于Ni/Ag/Ti/Au电极的反射率及与p-GaN欧姆接触性能的影响. 利用分光光度计测量反射率, 采用圆形传输线模型计算比接触电阻率. 结果表明: 随着Ag厚度的增加, Ni/Ag/Ti/Au电极的反射率逐渐增大; 在氧气氛围中, 随着退火时间从1 min增至10 min, 300 ℃退火时, 比接触电阻率持续下降, 而对于400-600 ℃退火, 比接触电阻率先减小后增大; 在300和400 ℃氧气中进行1-10 min 的退火后, Ni/Ag/Ti/Au的反射率变化较小, 退火温度高于400 ℃时, 随着退火时间的增加, 反射率急剧下降; 在400 ℃氧气中3 min退火后, 比接触电阻率可以达到3.6×10^-3 Ω·cm². 此外, 适当提高沉积温度可以增加Ni/Ag/Ti/Au的反射率并降低比接触电阻率, 沉积温度为120 ℃条件下的Ni/Ag/Ti/Au电极在450 nm处反射率达到90.1%, 比接触电阻率为6.4×10^-3 Ω·cm². 综合考虑电学和光学性能, 在沉积温度为120 ℃下蒸镀Ni/Ag/Ti/Au (1/200/100/100 nm)并在400 ℃氧气中进行3 min退火可以得到较优化的电极. 利用此电极制作的垂直结构发光二极管在350 mA电流下的工作电压为2.95 V, 输出光功率为387.1 mW, 电光转换效率达到37.5%.     

Study of Ti/Au,Ti/Al/Au,and Ti/Al/Ni/Au ohmic contacts to <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-GaN

The contacts of Ti/Au, Ti/Al/Au, and Ti/Al/Ni/Au films deposited on n-GaN were studied by current–voltage (I–V) and transmission-line-method measurements. The effect of annealing temperature on specific contact resistivity has been investigated by changing the annealing temperature from 400 to 900 °C. Ti/Al/Au and Ti/Al/Ni/Au films were superior to the bilayer (Ti/Au) in ohmic contact characteristics and thermal stability. The Ti/Al/Ni/Au composite showed the best thermal stability due to the fact that Ni plays a more important role than the alloy of Ti/Al in preventing the interdiffusion of Ti, Al, and Au. The lowest contact resistivity (10^-7cm²) to n-GaN was obtained for the Ti/Al/Ni/Au sample by short-time/high-temperature annealing. The formation mechanism of ohmic contacts to n-GaN is also discussed. PACS 73.40.Cg; 73.61.Ey     

High reflective p-GaN/Ni/Ag/Ti/Au Ohmic contacts for flip-chip light-emitting diode (FCLED) applications

The fabrication of high reflective Ni/Ag/(Ti, Mo)/Au Ohmic contacts for flip-chip light-emitting diode (FCLED) are proposed and considered, Ni/Ag/Au Ohmic contacts are also fabricated to compare their resulting reflectivities. From secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) depth profiles, it indicates that the Au in-diffusion occurs in Ni/Ag/Au contacts after annealing. It is considered that Au in-diffusion, which is intermixed with Ag, Ni and GaN in Ni/Ag/Au contacts after annealing, is responsible for the resulting low reflectance (63% at the wavelength of 465 nm). To avoid Au in-diffusion and enhance the reflectivity, a diffusion barrier metal (Ti or Mo) between Ni/Ag and Au is fabricated and examined. It is demonstrated and found that an insertion of diffusion barrier metal of Ti enables to block Au diffusion effectively and also improve the reflectivity significantly, up to 93%.     

GaN基紫光LED的高反射率p型欧姆接触

研究用于GaN基大功率倒装焊(Flip-chip)紫光LED(UV-LED)的高反射率p型欧姆接触的电学和光学性能。用磁控溅射的方法在GaN基LED外延片表面沉积了不同厚度Ag,Al,Au和Pd四种金属,测量了样品的反射率和透射率。结合同步辐射高强度X射线衍射和AFM对金属薄膜的晶体结构进行分析,并对表面形貌进行了观测,对由金属薄膜构成的多层膜结构及其对光反射率的作用机理进行了研究。测量结果表明,在入射光波长为400nm时,Ni/Au/Ag和Ni/Au/Al电极的反射率比Ni/Au的反射率提高了三倍。同时与p-GaN有良好的欧姆接触特性。     

高反射率p-GaN欧姆接触电极

根据光学薄膜原理计算了GaN/Ti/Ag、GaN/Al和GaN/Ni/Au/Ti/Ag、GaN/Ni/Au/Al多层电极结构的反射率,得出Ag基和Al基反射电极均能在全角范围内提供较高的反射率。实验测量结果表明,反射率能高于80%的Ag基反射电极,具有低欧姆接触的电学特性。并将GaN/Ni/Au/Ti/Ag多层反射电极应用在上下电极结构的GaN基LED中。实验上采用两步合金法获得了低接触电阻、高反射率的电极结构,并引入Ni/Au覆盖层克服了Ag高温时的团聚和氧化现象。解决了Ag电极的稳定性问题,显著地提高了LED的出光效率,成功制备了具有上下电极结构的GaN基LED管芯。     

High-Temperature Characteristics of Ti/Al/Ni/Au Ohmic Contacts to n-GaN

We present the high-temperature characteristics of Ti/Al/Ni/Au（15 nm/220 nm/40 nm/50 nm） multiplayer contacts to n-type GaN （Nd = 3.7 × 10^17 cm^-3, Nd = 3.0 × 10^18 cm^-3）. The contact resistivity increases with the measurement temperature. Furthermore, the increasing tendency is related to doping concentration. The higher the doped, the slower the contact resistivity with decreasing measurement temperature. Ti/Al/Ni/Au ohmic contact to heavy doping n-GaN takes on better high temperature reliability. According to the analyses of XRD and AES for the n-GaN/Ti/Al/Ni/Au, the Au atoms permeate through the Ni layer which is not thick enough into the AI layer even the Ti layer.     

传输线模型测量Au/Ti/p型金刚石薄膜的欧姆接触电阻率

采用传输线模型测量了重B掺杂p型金刚石薄膜(约10²⁰cm^-3)上Ti/A u欧姆接触电阻率ρ_c,测试了500℃退火前后及大电流情况下的I-V特性,研究 了退火对ρ_c的影响.结果表明,重掺杂和退火工艺是改善欧姆接触的有效手段. ρ_c随测试温度的变化表明金属/半导体接触界面载流子输运机制为隧道穿透.而 光照对ρ_c影响的分析表明金刚石可作为理想窗口材料.测试得到的最低ρ _c值约为10^-4Ωcm². 关键词： 金刚石薄膜 欧姆接触 接触电阻率     

组合材料方法研究膜厚对Ni/SiC电极接触性质的影响

采用组合材料方法研究了金属Ni膜厚对Ni/SiC接触性质的影响.16个膜厚均为18 nm的Ni/SiC电极具有较为一致的肖特基接触性质;膜厚从10 nm增加到160 nm,肖特基接触的电流-电压（I-V）曲线随膜厚发生显著变化.分析表明这种变化源于膜厚对理想因子n和有效势垒高度Ф_B的影响.1000℃快速退火后,这些肖特基接触都转变为欧姆接触,Ni₂Si是主要的生成物.I-V曲线测 关键词： 碳化硅 肖特基接触 欧姆接触 组合材料方法     

ZrB2-based Ohmic contacts to p-GaN

The annealing temperature dependence of contact resistance and layer stability of ZrB₂/Ti/Au and Ni/Au/ZrB₂/Ti/Au Ohmic contacts on p-GaN is reported. The as-deposited contacts are rectifying and transition to Ohmic behavior for annealing at ≥750 °C, a significant improvement in thermal stability compared to the conventional Ni/Au Ohmic contact on p-GaN, which is stable only to <600 °C. A minimum specific contact resistance of ∼2 × 10⁻³ Ω cm⁻² was obtained for the ZrB₂/Ti/Au after annealing at 800 °C while for Ni/Au/ZrB₂/Ti/Au the minimum value was 10⁻⁴ Ω cm⁻² at 900 °C. Auger Electron Spectroscopy profiling showed significant Ti, Ni and Zr out diffusion at 750 °C in the Ni/Au/ZrB₂/Ti/Au while the Ti and Zr intermix at 900 °C in the ZrB₂/Ti/Au. These boride-based contacts show promise for contacts to p-GaN in high temperature applications.     

Electrical, structural and surface morphological properties of thermally stable low-resistance W/Ti/Au multilayer ohmic contacts to n-type GaN

A W/Ti/Au multilayer scheme has been fabricated for achieving thermally stable low-resistance ohmic contact to n-type GaN (4.0 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³). It is shown that the as-deposited W/Ti/Au contact exhibits near linear I-V behaviour. However, annealing at temperature below 800 °C the contacts exhibit non-linear behaviour. After annealing at a temperature in excess of 850 °C, the W/Ti/Au contact showed ohmic behaviour. The W/Ti/Au contact produced specific contact resistance as low as 6.7 × 10⁻⁶ Ω cm² after annealing at 900 °C for 1 min in a N₂ ambient. It is noted that the specific contact resistance decreases with increase in annealing temperature. It is also noted that annealing the contacts at 900 °C for 30 min causes insignificant degradation of the electrical and thermal properties. It is further shown that the overall surface morphology of the W/Ti/Au stayed fairly smooth even after annealing at 900 °C. The W/Ti/Au ohmic contact showed good edge sharpness after annealing at 900 °C for 30 min. Based on the Auger electron spectroscopy and glancing angle X-ray diffraction results, possible explanation for the annealing dependence of the specific contact resistance of the W/Ti/Au contacts are described and discussed.     

Improved device performance in nonpolar a ‐plane GaN LEDs using a Ni/Al/Ni/Au n‐type ohmic contact

The authors report upon the increased light‐output power (P_out) via a reduction in the forward voltage (V_f) for nonpolar a ‐plane GaN LEDs using Ni/Al/Ni/Au n‐type ohmic contacts. The specific contact resistivity of the Ni/Al/Ni/Au contact is found to be as low as 5.6 × 10^–5 whereas that of a typical Ti/Al/Ni/Au contact is 6.8 × 10^–4 Ω cm², after annealing at 700 °C. The X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy results show that the upward surface band bending is less pronounced for the Ni/Al contact compared to the Ti/Al contact, leading to a decrease in the effective Schottky barrier height (SBH). The V_f of the nonpolar LEDs decreases by 10% and P_out increases by 15% when the Ni/Al/Ni/Au scheme is used instead of the typical Ti/Al/Ni/Au metal scheme. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Microstructure and current transport in Ti/Al/Ni/Au ohmic contacts to n-type AlGaN epilayers grown on Si(111)

The microstructure and the current transport in Ti/Al/Ni/Au ohmic contacts on AlGaN were investigated in this paper.Significant structural changes of the metal stack occurred upon annealing and ohmic contacts were obtained after thermal treatments above 700 C, with specific contact resistance values , which depend on the thickness of the Ti layer.Although the formation of a TiN interfacial layer is independent of the Ti thickness, different contact structures, i.e. the phases and grain location, were found as a function of the Ti layer, which were crucial for the nanoscale current transport through the contact stack. In particular, conductive atomic force microscopy combined with the resistivity measurement of the main phases formed upon annealing (AlNi, AlAu₄, Al₂Au) indicated that the low resistivity Al₂Au phase provides preferential conductive paths for the nanoscopic current flow through the contact.     

Reasons for the deactivation of Pt/TiO2 photocatalyst treated by inert gas N2

The effect of N₂ treatment on the photocatalytic activity of Pt⁰/TiO₂ was investigated. The results showed that after treatment at 500 °C in N₂, 70% of the photocatalytic activity of 1.0 wt.% Pt⁰/TiO₂ was lost by the evaluation of photocatalytic oxidation reaction of C₃H₆. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Ar⁺ ion sputtering tests revealed that in the course of high-temperature N₂ treatment, the size of Pt⁰ particles on TiO₂ increases and a strong interaction between metal and support, i.e. Pt⁰ particles encapsulated by Ti_xO_y, happens, which are the reasons for the deactivation of Pt⁰/TiO₂ photocatalyst treated by high-temperature N₂.     

CdTe太阳电池的不同背电极和背接触层的特性研究

用Ni替代Au来作为CdTe太阳电池的背电极，比较了Ni,Ni/Au,Au/Ni及Au背电极对电池性能的影响.发现Ni作为背电极和ZnTe/ZnTe:Cu复合层接触，电池的开路电压V_oc略有降低，填充因子FF有增有减，变化幅度不大，但因短路电流I_sc有较大的提高，转换效率η平均增长4％.测试了不同背电极的CdTe太阳电池的暗I-V和C-V特性，对背电极剥离后的样品进行了XPS测试分析.结果表明，Ni扩散到ZnTe/ZnTe:Cu复合层的深度比Au多，且大多呈离子态，与ZnTe/ZnTe:Cu复合层中的富Te离子形成Ni_xTe，提高了掺杂浓度，使电池性能获得改善. 关键词： 金属背电极 复合背接触层 转换效率 CdTe太阳电池     

Ni/Au与N掺杂p型ZnO的欧姆接触

研究了Au,In,Ni/Au三种不同金属膜与N掺杂p型ZnO的接触特性,发现Ni/Au双层膜更适合作为其欧姆电极材料,并比较了不同气氛和不同温度退火对Ni/Au电极的影响.发现在O₂中退火电极性能发生蜕变,而在N₂中退火性能得到改善.指出即使在N₂中退火,退火温度的选择也是至关重要的,本实验在400℃,氮气气氛下退火150s,得到了较好的欧姆接触特性.     

Structural characterization of Ni and Ni/Ti ohmic contact on n-type 4H-SiC

In this study, we report on the structural characterization of Ni layer and Ni/Ti bilayer contacts on n-type 4H-SiC. The resulting Ni-silicides and the redistribution of carbon, after annealing at 950 °C, in the Ni/SiC and the Ni/Ti/SiC contacts are particularly studied by Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) at E_α = 3.2 MeV, nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) at E_d = 1 MeV, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) techniques.     

Density functional theory calculation of platinum surface segregation energy in Pt3Ni (111) surface doped with a third transition metal

We have used density functional theory method to calculate the Pt surface segregation energy in the Pt₃Ni (111) surface doped with a third transition metal M and thus investigated the influence of component M on the extent of Pt segregation to the outermost layer of these Pt₃Ni/M (111) surface. As a third component in the Pt₃Ni/M (111) surface, V, Fe, Co, Mo, Tc, Ru, W, Re, Os, and Ir were predicted to lead to even more negative Pt surface segregation energies than that in the based Pt₃Ni (111) surface; Ti, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zr, Nb, Rh, Hf, and Ta would still retain the preference of Pt segregation to the surface but with less extent than the replaced Ni, while Pd, Ag, and Au would completely suppress the Pt segregation to the Pt₃Ni/M (111) surfaces. Furthermore, we examined the relation between the Pt surface segregation energy in the Pt₃Ni/M (111) surfaces and the material properties (lattice parameter, heat of solution, and Pt surface segregation energy) of binary alloys Pt₃M. It was found that the surface energy effect, strain effect, and heat of solution effect induced by the doped element M would collectively affect the Pt surface segregation energy in the Pt₃Ni/M (111) surfaces.     

Use of TiB2 diffusion barriers for Ni/Au ohmic contacts on p-GaN

The use of a TiB₂ diffusion barrier for Ni/Au contacts on p-GaN is reported. The annealing temperature (25-950 °C) dependence of ohmic contact characteristics using a Ni/Au/TiB₂/Ti/Au metallization scheme deposited by sputtering were investigated by contact resistance measurements and auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The as-deposited contacts are rectifying and transition to ohmic behavior for annealing at ≥500 °C . A minimum specific contact resistivity of ∼3 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm⁻² was obtained after annealing over a broad range of temperatures (800-950 °C for 60 s). The contact morphology became considerably rougher at the higher end of this temperature range. AES profiling showed significant Ti and Ni outdiffusion through the TiB₂ at 800 °C. By 900 °C the Ti was almost completely removed to the surface, where it became oxidized. Use of the TiB₂ diffusion barrier produces superior thermal stability compared to the more common Ni/Au, whose morphology degrades significantly above 500 °C.     

Ir-based diffusion barriers for Ohmic contacts to p-GaN

Ir-based electrical contacts to p-type GaN have been fabricated and characterized. Both GaN//Ni/Au/Ir/Au and GaN//Ni/Ir/Au contact structures were deposited, however, only the former produced Ohmic current-voltage characteristics. At an anneal temperature of 500 °C, the Ni/Au/Ir/Au contact had a specific contact resistance of ∼2 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm², comparable or superior to conventional Ni/Au contacts that are less thermally stable. Anneal temperatures above 500 °C caused the Ir-based contact to fail. Auger electron spectroscopy was used to obtain depth profiles of both types of contacts at a variety of temperatures in order to provide insight into the mechanism of Ohmic formation as well as potential reasons for failure. A comparison to other metallization schemes on p-GaN is also given.