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.     

Temperature dependent electrical characteristics of Sn/p-Si Schottky diodes

Current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics of Sn/p-Si Schottky diodes measured in the temperature range 80-320 K are presented and analysed. Anomalous strong temperature dependencies of the ideality factor and apparent barrier height were obtained. There was also a considerable difference between the apparent barrier heights obtained from current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics. These anomalies are explained by the domination of the current by a high level of thermionic-field emission, and by the presence of deep levels near the Sn/Si interface, which yield a reduction of free hole concentration and a significant temperature dependence of the charge stored near the metal-semiconductor (MS) interface. The evaluation of temperature dependence of forward current for thermionic-field emission resulted in the following parameters: characteristic energy E₀₀ = 9.8 meV, Schottky barrier height at zero bias Φ_b0 = 0.802 eV, bias coefficient of barrier height β = 0, and effective Richardson constant A* = 37.32 A cm⁻² K⁻².     

On the reverse leakage current of Schottky contacts on free-standing GaN at high reverse biases

In this work, a dislocation-related tunneling leakage current model is developed to explain the temperature-dependent reverse current–voltage(I–V –T) characteristics of a Schottky barrier diode fabricated on free-standing GaN substrate for reverse-bias voltages up to-150 V. The model suggests that the reverse leakage current is dominated by the direct tunneling of electrons from Schottky contact metal into a continuum of states associated with conductive dislocations in GaN epilayer.A reverse leakage current ideality factor, which originates from the scattering effect at metal/GaN interface, is introduced into the model. Good agreement between the experimental data and the simulated I–V curves is obtained.     

n-GaN肖特基势垒二极管的高温电子辐照效应

本文研究了n-GaN肖特基势垒二极管的高温电子辐照效应。实验结果显示,高温下进行电子辐照,界面处辐照诱生缺陷会同时产生和被退火恢复;器件的击穿电压和反向漏电流受辐照影响减弱,其电学阈值增加;由辐照效应导致的可见光响应的影响仍然存在。     

Barrier lowering and leakage current reduction in Ni-AlGaN/GaN Schottky diodes with an oxygen-treated GaN cap layer

We report on the effect of oxygen annealing for GaN surface on the Schottky barrier configuration and leakage current in Ni-AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes. After oxygen annealing, their turn-on voltage and reverse-bias leakage current characteristics are significantly improved due to a reduction in the Schottky barrier height (SBH) and suppression in the surface states respectively. Interface state density extracted from the Terman method was reduced by 2 orders of magnitude. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements show that the oxygen annealing induces Ga₂O₃ on the GaN surface. The formation of Ga₂O₃ reduces the interface state density as well as lowers the SBH through the modification of hybridized metal induced gap states.     

Role of Ga vacancies in enhancing the leakage current of GaN Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetectors

The leakage current of GaN Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetectors is investigated. It is found that the photodetectors adopting undoped GaN instead of lightly Si-doped GaN as an active layer show a much lower leakage current even when they have a higher dislocation density. It is also found that the density of Ga vacancies in undoped GaN is much lower than in Si-doped GaN. The Ga vacancies may enhance tunneling and reduce effective Schottky barrier height, leading to an increase of leakage current. It suggests that when undoped GaN is used as the active layer, it is necessary to reduce the leakage current of GaN Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetector.     

Characterization of metal/GaN Schottky interfaces based on I–V–T characteristics

Interface properties of metal/n- and p-GaN Schottky diodes are studied by I–V–T and C–V–T measurements, and simulation of their characteristics. On the basis of the previously proposed “surface patch” model, the gross behavior of I–V–T characteristics, which includes Richardson plots together with temperature dependence of the effective Schottky barrier heights (SBHs) and n-values, can be well reproduced. Furthermore, the dependence of the true SBH on the metal work function was also deduced from high-temperature I–V curves, giving S-values of 0.28 and 0.20 for n- and p-GaN samples, respectively, and the interface Fermi level tends to be pinned at a characteristic energy of about two-third of the bandgap.     

GaN基异质结缓冲层漏电分析

通过对GaN基异质结材料C-V特性中耗尽电容的比较,得出AlGaN/GaN异质结缓冲层漏电与成核层的关系.实验结果表明,基于蓝宝石衬底低温GaN成核层和SiC衬底高温AlN成核层的异质结材料比基于蓝宝石衬底低温AlN成核层异质结材料漏电小、背景载流子浓度低.深入分析发现,基于薄成核层的异质结材料在近衬底的GaN缓冲层中具有高浓度的n型GaN导电层,而基于厚成核层的异质结材料的GaN缓冲层则呈高阻特性.GaN缓冲层中的n型导电层是导致器件漏电主要因素之一,适当提高成核层的质量和厚度可有效降低GaN缓冲层的背景载流子浓度,提高GaN缓冲层的高阻特性,抑制缓冲层漏电. 关键词： AlGaN/GaN异质结 GaN缓冲层 漏电 成核层     

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.     

一种减小GaN基肖特基结构紫外探测器暗电流的方法

提出了一种减小GaN肖特基结构紫外探测器暗电流的方法.该方法是在普通的GaN肖特基结构的表面增加一层薄的p-GaN.模拟计算结果表明,该层p-GaN能增加肖特基势垒高度,从而减小了器件的暗电流,提高了器件性能.进一步的计算还发现,对于p型载流子浓度较高的情况下,只需要很薄的一层p-GaN就能显著增加肖特基势垒高度,对于p型载流子浓度较低的情况下,则需要较厚的一层p-GaN才能有较好的肖特基势垒高度增加效果. 关键词： GaN 肖特基结构 紫外探测器 暗电流     

TCAD simulation of tunneling leakage current in CaF2/Si(111) MIS structures

We introduce a simulation technique suitable to model the tunneling leakage current in the metal(polySi)/CaF₂/Si(111) MIS structures using TCAD simulators Minimos-NT and ViennaSHE. The simulations are performed using the real physical parameters of the CaF₂/Si tunnel barrier. The results obtained for the case of near-equilibrium carrier transport are in a good agreement with experimental data and also with the simulation results yielded by our reference physical model. The obtained non-equilibrium hot-electron tunnel leakages in the hypothetical transistors with CaF₂ as a gate dielectric are comparable to those in the structures with silicon dioxide. Being an important step forward for the device application of calcium fluorite, this work opens the possibility of simulating the characteristics of different silicon-based systems with crystalline insulators.     

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     

穿透型V形坑对GaN基p-i-n结构紫外探测器反向漏电的影响

研究了GaN基p-i-n（p-AlGaN/i-GaN/n-GaN）结构紫外探测器的漏电机理．实验发现,在位错密度几乎相同的情况下,基于表面有较高密度的V形坑缺陷材料制备的器件表现出较高的反向漏电．进一步的SEM测试发现,这种V形坑穿透到有源区i-GaN、甚至n-GaN层．在制备p-AlGaN电极时,许多金属会落在V形坑中,从而与i-GaN形成了肖特基接触,有些甚至直接和n-GaN形成欧姆接触．正是由于并联的肖特基接触和欧姆接触的存在导致了漏电的增加． 关键词： GaN 紫外探测器 V形坑 反向漏电     

Schottky forward current transport mechanisms in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs over a wide temperature range

The behavior of Schottky contacts in AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors(HEMTs) is investigated by temperature-dependent current–voltage(T –I–V) measurements from 300 K to 473 K. The ideality factor and barrier height determined based on the thermionic emission(TE) theory are found to be strong functions of temperature, while present a great deviation from the theoretical value, which can be expounded by the barrier height inhomogeneities. In order to determine the forward current transport mechanisms, the experimental data are analyzed using numerical fitting method,considering the temperature-dependent series resistance. It is observed that the current flow at room temperature can be attributed to the tunneling mechanism, while thermionic emission current gains a growing proportion with an increase in temperature. Finally, the effective barrier height is derived based on the extracted thermionic emission component, and an evaluation of the density of dislocations is made from the I–V characteristics, giving a value of 1.49 × 107cm-2.     

复合漏电模型建立及阶梯场板GaN肖特基势垒二极管设计

准垂直GaN肖特基势垒二极管(SBD)因其低成本和高电流传输能力而备受关注.但其主要问题在于无法很好地估计器件的反向特性,从而影响二极管的设计.本文考虑了GaN材料的缺陷以及多种漏电机制,建立了复合漏电模型,对准垂直Ga N SBD的特性进行了模拟,仿真结果与实验结果吻合.基于此所提模型设计出具有高击穿电压的阶梯型场板结构准垂直GaN SBD.根据漏电流、温度和电场在反向电压下的相关性,分析了漏电机制和器件耐压特性,设计的阶梯型场板结构准垂直GaN SBD的Baliga优值BFOM达到73.81 MW/cm~2.     

n-GaN肖特基势垒光敏器件的电子辐照效应

本文主要研究了n型GaN肖特基紫外光敏器件(包括GaN肖特基势垒紫外探测器,GaN肖特基二极管)的电子辐照效应和失效机理,以及辐照后二极管对不同波长光的光敏特性的变化。从实验中观测到,随着辐照注量的不断增加,GaN光敏器件的击穿电压明显减小,反向漏电流逐渐增大。证实了辐照后Au/GaN间产生的界面态是引起GaN肖特基势垒光敏器件辐照失效的原因。另外,在研究辐照效应对GaN肖特基二管光敏特性的影响时观测到,经过一定剂量的辐照后,GaN肖特基二管能探测到380nm的紫外光和可见光,而在辐照以前,它是探测不到的。这说明辐照效应将导致肖特基势垒光敏器件对较长波长的吸收,使得UV探测器中可见光成分的背景噪声增加。     

基于I-V-T和C-V-T的GaN上Ni/Au肖特基接触特性研究

基于对制作在n-GaN上的肖特基二极管的变温I-V测试和C-V测试，采用表面势垒减薄模型对肖特基二极管的电流输运特性进行了研究.试验结果表明，肖特基接触的电流输运机理非常复杂，在不同的温度条件和偏压条件下有着不同的电流输运机理.在此基础上对肖特基接触I-V特性方程进行了修正，得到了很好的拟合曲线.试验表明，高温I-V法提取的势垒高度与常温C-V法提取的势垒高度接近于根据金属功函数得出的理论势垒高度值. 关键词： 氮化镓 肖特基二极管 表面势垒减薄模型 热电子场发射     

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.     

AlGaN/GaN肖特基结参数分析与电流运输机理研究

通过对AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件肖特基栅电流输运机理的研究,在变温下采用I-V法对AlGaN/GaN上的Ni/Au肖特基势垒高度和理想因子进行了计算. 通过对不同电流机理的分立研究,得到了更为准确的势垒高度值_b. 通过分析温度在300—550K之间肖特基反向泄漏电流的特性,得出结论：AlGaN材料的表面漏电不是HEMT器件反向泄漏电流的主要来源. 关键词： AlGaN/GaN异质结 肖特基结 理想因子     

Leakage current and rectification behavior of Au / TiO2 / GaN junctions with TiO2 interlayer oxygen deposition pressure

Au/TiO₂/GaN junctions with a TiO₂ interlayer were deposited at various oxygen pressures from 5 mTorr to 80 mTorr, and their surface, microstructural, and electrical properties were investigated. Compared with a single 5 μm-Si-doped GaN film on an (0001) Al₂O₃ substrate, the 0.2 μm-Si-doped GaN film with an undoped GaN buffer layer demonstrated improved properties for the application to metal/semiconductor junctions. Atomic force microscope and tunneling electron microscope measurements suggested that the TiO₂ interlayer deposited at room temperature exhibited a distinctive change above the oxygen deposition pressure of 40 mTorr. In contrast to the small rectification ratio of 10¹-10² for Au/GaN junctions, the Au/TiO₂/GaN junctions with the TiO₂ interlayers displayed a large rectification ratio of 10⁶-10⁷ when the oxygen pressure during the deposition of TiO₂ interlayer was maintained at 40 mTorr. These results suggest that the leakage current and the rectification behavior in a metal/oxide/semiconductor junction can be effectively controlled using the oxygen deposition pressure for an oxide interlayer.