Physical analysis of normally-off ALD Al2O3/GaN MOSFET with different substrates using self-terminating thermal oxidation-assisted wet etching technique

Based on the self-terminating thermal oxidation-assisted wet etching technique, two kinds of enhancement mode Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$/GaN MOSFETs (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors) separately with sapphire substrate and Si substrate are prepared. It is found that the performance of sapphire substrate device is better than that of silicon substrate. Comparing these two devices, the maximum drain current of sapphire substrate device (401 mA/mm) is 1.76 times that of silicon substrate device (228 mA/mm), and the field-effect mobility ($\mu_{\rm FEmax}$) of sapphire substrate device (176 cm$^{2}$/V$\cdot$s) is 1.83 times that of silicon substrate device (96 cm$^{2}$/V$\cdot$s). The conductive resistance of silicon substrate device is 21.2 $\Omega {\cdot }$mm, while that of sapphire substrate device is only 15.2 $\Omega {\cdot }$mm, which is 61% that of silicon substrate device. The significant difference in performance between sapphire substrate and Si substrate is related to the differences in interface and border trap near Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$/GaN interface. Experimental studies show that (i) interface/border trap density in the sapphire substrate device is one order of magnitude lower than in the Si substrate device, (ii) Both the border traps in Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ dielectric near Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$/GaN and the interface traps in Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$/GaN interface have a significantly effect on device channel mobility, and (iii) the properties of gallium nitride materials on different substrates are different due to wet etching. The research results in this work provide a reference for further optimizing the performances of silicon substrate devices.     

Effects of preparation parameters on growth and properties of β-Ga2O3 film

The Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ films are deposited on the Si and quartz substrates by magnetron sputtering, and annealing. The effects of preparation parameters (such as argon-oxygen flow ratio, sputtering power, sputtering time and annealing temperature) on the growth and properties ($e.g.$, surface morphology, crystal structure, optical and electrical properties of the films) are studied by x-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis). The results show that the thickness, crystallization quality and surface roughness of the $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ film are influenced by those parameters. All $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3 }$films show good optical properties. Moreover, the value of bandgap increases with the enlarge of the percentage of oxygen increasing, and decreases with the increase of sputtering power and annealing temperature, indicating that the bandgap is related to the quality of the film and affected by the number of oxygen vacancy defects. The $I$-$V$ curves show that the Ohmic behavior between metal and $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ films is obtained at 900 ${^\circ}$C. Those results will be helpful for the further research of $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ photoelectric semiconductor.     

Steady-state and transient electronic transport properties of β-(AlxGa1-x)2O3/Ga2O3 heterostructures: An ensemble Monte Carlo simulation

The steady-state and transient electron transport properties of $\beta $-(Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructures were investigated by Monte Carlo simulation with the classic three-valley model. In particular, the electronic band structures were acquired by first-principles calculations, which could provide precise parameters for calculating the transport properties of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), and the quantization effect was considered in the $\varGamma $ valley with the five lowest subbands. Wave functions and energy eigenvalues were obtained by iteration of the Schrödinger-Poisson equations to calculate the 2DEG scattering rates with five main scattering mechanisms considered. The simulated low-field electron mobilities agree well with the experimental results, thus confirming the effectiveness of our models. The results show that the room temperature electron mobility of the $\beta $-(Al$_{0.188}$Ga$_{0.812}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructure at 10 kV$ \cdot$cm$^{-1}$ is approximately 153.669 cm$^{2}\cdot$V$^{-1}\cdot$s$^{-1}$, and polar optical phonon scattering would have a significant impact on the mobility properties at this time. The region of negative differential mobility, overshoot of the transient electron velocity and negative diffusion coefficients are also observed when the electric field increases to the corresponding threshold value or even exceeds it. This work offers significant parameters for the $\beta$-(Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructure that may benefit the design of high-performance $\beta$-(Al$_{x}$Ga$_{1-x}$)$_{2}$O$_{3}$/Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterostructure-based devices.     

Enhanced interface properties of diamond MOSFETs with Al_2O_3 gate dielectric deposited via ALD at a high temperature

The interface state of hydrogen-terminated(C–H) diamond metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor(MOSFET) is critical for device performance. In this paper, we investigate the fixed charges and interface trap states in C–H diamond MOSFETs by using different gate dielectric processes. The devices use Al_2O_3 as gate dielectrics that are deposited via atomic layer deposition(ALD) at 80℃ and 300℃, respectively, and their C–V and I–V characteristics are comparatively investigated. Mott–Schottky plots(1/C~2–VG) suggest that positive and negative fixed charges with low density of about 1011 cm~(-2) are located in the 80-℃-and 300-℃ deposition Al_2O_3 films, respectively. The analyses of direct current(DC)/pulsed I–V and frequency-dependent conductance show that the shallow interface traps(0.46 e V–0.52 e V and0.53 e V–0.56 e V above the valence band of diamond for the 80-℃ and 300-℃ deposition conditions, respectively) with distinct density(7.8 × 10~(13) e V~(-1)·cm~(-2)–8.5 × 10~(13) e V-1·cm~(-2) and 2.2 × 1013 e V~(-1)·cm~(-2)–5.1 × 10~(13) e V~(-1)·cm~(-2) for the80-℃-and 300-℃-deposition conditions, respectively) are present at the Al_2O_3/C–H diamond interface. Dynamic pulsed I–V and capacitance dispersion results indicate that the ALD Al_2O_3 technique with 300-℃ deposition temperature has higher stability for C–H diamond MOSFETs.     

High density Al2O3/TaN-based metal--insulator-- metal capacitors in application to radio frequency integrated circuits

Metal-insulator-metal （MIM） capacitors with atomic-layer-deposited Al2O3 dielectric and reactively sputtered TaN electrodes in application to radio frequency integrated circuits have been characterized electrically. The capacitors exhibit a high density of about 6.05 fF/μm^2, a small leakage current of 4.8 × 10^-8 A/cm^2 at 3 V, a high breakdown electric field of 8.61 MV/cm as well as acceptable voltage coefficients of capacitance （VCCs） of 795 ppm/V2 and 268ppm/V at 1 MHz. The observed properties should be attributed to high-quality Al2O3 film and chemically stable TaN electrodes. Further, a logarithmically linear relationship between quadratic VCC and frequency is observed due to the change of relaxation time with carrier mobility in the dielectric. The conduction mechanism in the high field ranges is dominated by the Poole-Frenkel emission, and the leakage current in the low field ranges is likely to be associated with trap-assisted tunnelling. Meanwhile, the Al2O3 dielectric presents charge trapping under low voltage stresses, and defect generation under high voltage stresses, and it has a hard-breakdown performance.     

Judd-Oflet analysis of spectrum and laser performance of Ho：YAP crystal end-pumped by 1.91μm Tm：YLF laser

The Ho:YAP crystal is grown by the Czochralski technique.The room temperature polarized absorption spectra of Ho:YAP crystal was measured on a c cut sample with 1 at% holmium.According to the obtained Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters Ω2 = 1.42 × 10-20 cm2,Ω4 = 2.92 × 10-20 cm2,and Ω6 = 1.71 × 10-20 cm2,this paper calculated the fluorescence lifetime to be 6 ms for 5I7 →5 I8 transition,and the integrated emission cross section to be 2.24×10-18 cm2.It investigates the room temperature Ho:YAP laser end pumped by a 1.91 μm Tm:YLF laser.The maximum output power was 4.1 W when the incident 1.91 μm pump power was 14.4 W.The slope efficiency is 40.8%,corresponding to an optical to optical conversion efficiency of 28.4%.The Ho:YAP output wavelength was centred at 2118 nm with full width at half maximum of about 0.8 nm.     

Enhancement of magnetic and dielectric properties of low temperature sintered NiCuZn ferrite by Bi2O3-CuO additives

With a series of 1.0 wt%Bi$_{2}$O$_{3}$-$x$ wt% CuO ($x =0.0$, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8) serving as sintering additives, Ni$_{0.23}$Cu$_{0.32}$Zn$_{0.45}$Fe$_{2}$O$_{4}$ ferrites are successfully synthesized at a low temperature (900 $^\circ$C) by using the solid state reaction method. The effects of the additives on the phase formation, magnetic and dielectric properties as well as the structural and gyromagnetic properties are investigated. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the added Bi$_{2}$O$_{3}$-CuO can lower the synthesis temperature significantly without the appearing of the second phase. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images confirm that Bi$_{2}$O$_{3}$ is an important factor that determines the sintering behaviors, while CuO affects the grain size and densification. With CuO content $x=0.4$ or 0.6, the sample shows high saturation magnetization, low coercivity, high real part of magnetic permeability, dielectric permittivity, and small ferromagnetic resonance linewidth ($\Delta H$). The NiCuZn ferrites are a promising new generation of high-performance microwave devices, such as phase shifters and isolators.     

Thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence disadvantages of α-Al2O3:C crystal grown by the temperature gradient technique

Recently, α-Al₂O₃:C crystal with highly sensitive thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) has been successfully grown by the temperature gradient technique. This paper investigates the heating rate dependence of TL sensitivity, light-induced fading of TL signals and thermal stability of OSL of α-Al₂O₃:C crystals. As the heating rate increases, the integral TL response decreases and the dosimetric glow peak shifts to higher temperatures in α-Al₂O₃:C crystals. Light-induced fading of TL increases with the irradiation dose, and TL response decreases as the exposure time increases, especially in the first 15 minutes. With the increasing intensity of the exposure light, the TL fading of α-Al₂O₃:C crystal increases sharply. The OSL response of as-grown α-Al₂O₃:C crystal is quite stable below 373 K and decreases sharply for higher temperatures.     

Fast-speed self-powered PEDOT: PSS/α-Ga2O3 nanorod array/FTO photodetector with solar-blind UV/visible dual-band photodetection

The $\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ nanorod array is grown on FTO by hydrothermal and annealing processes. And a self-powered PEDOT:PSS/$\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ nanorod array/FTO (PGF) photodetector has been demonstrated by spin coating PEDOT:PSS on the $\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ nanorod array. Successfully, the PGF photodetector shows solar-blind UV/visible dual-band photodetection. Our device possesses comparable solar-blind UV responsivity (0.18 mA/W at 235 nm) and much faster response speed (0.102 s) than most of the reported self-powered $\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ nanorod array solar-blind UV photodetectors. And it presents the featured and distinguished visible band photoresponse with a response speed of 0.136 s at 540 nm. The response time is also much faster than the other non-self-powered $\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3 }$ DUV/visible dual-band photodetectors due to the fast-speed separation of photogenerated carries by the built-in electric field in the depletion regions of PEDOT:PSS/$\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ heterojunction. The results herein may prove a promising way to realize fast-speed self-powered $\alpha $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ photodetectors with solar-blind UV/visible dual-band photodetection by simple processes for the applications of multiple-target tracking, imaging, machine vision and communication.     

Effect of lithium-potassium mixed alkali on spectroscopic properties of Er^3＋-doped aluminophosphate glasses

Er^3＋-doped lithium-potassium mixed alkali aluminophosphate glasses belonging to the oxide system xK2O-（15-x）Li2O-4B2O3-11Al2O3-5BaO-65P2O5 are obtained in a semi-continuous melting quenching process. Spectroscopic properties of Er^3＋-doped glass matrix have been analysed by fitting the experimental data with the standard Judd-Ofelt theory. It is observed that Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters Ωt（t = 2, 4 and 6） of Er^3＋ change when the second alkali is introduced into glass matrix. The variation of line strength Sed[^4I13/2,^4I15/2] follows the same trend as that of the/26 parameter. The effect of mixed alkali on the spectroscopic properties of the aluminophosphate glasses, such as absorption cross-section, stimulated emission cross-section, spontaneous emission probability, branching ratio and the radiative lifetime, has also been investigated in this paper.     

Temperature-frequency dependence and mechanism of dielectric properties for γ-Y2Si2O7

This paper reports that single-phase γ-Y2Si2O7 is prepared via a sufficient blending and cold-pressed sintering technique from Y2O3 powder and SiO2 nanopowder. It studies the dielectric properties of γ-Y2Si2O7 as a function of the temperature and frequency. The γ-Y2Si2O7 exhibits low dielectric loss and non-Debye relaxation behaviour from 25 to 1400℃ in the range of 7.3-18 GHz. The mechanism for polarization relaxation of the as-prepared γ-Y2Si2O7 differing from that of SiO 2 is explained. Such particular dielectric properties could potentially make specific attraction for extensive practical applications.     

Slight Co-doping tuned magnetic and electric properties on cubic BaFeO3 single crystal

The single crystal of cubic perovskite BaFeO$_{3}$ shows multiple magnetic transitions and external stimulus sensitive magnetism. In this paper, a 5%-Co-doped BaFeO$_{3}$ (i.e. BaFe$_{0.95}$Co$_{0.05}$O$_{3})$ single crystal was grown by combining floating zone methods with high-pressure techniques. Such a slight Co doping has little effect on crystal structure, but significantly changes the magnetism from the parent antiferromagnetic ground state to a ferromagnetic one with the Curie temperature $T_{\rm C} \approx 120$ K. Compared with the parent BaFeO$_{3}$ at the induced ferromagnetic state, the saturated magnetic moment of the doped BaFe$_{0.95}$Co$_{0.05}$O$_{3}$ increases by about 10% and reaches 3.64 $\mu_{\rm B}$/f.u. Resistivity and specific heat measurements show that the ferromagnetic ordering favors metallic-like electrical transport behavior for BaFe$_{0.95}$Co$_{0.05}$O$_{3}$. The present work indicates that Co-doping is an effective method to tune the magnetic and electric properties for the cubic perovskite phase of BaFeO$_{3}$.     

A 4×4 metal-semiconductor-metal rectangular deep-ultraviolet detector array of Ga2O3 photoconductor with high photo response

A 4$\times $4 beta-phase gallium oxide ($\beta $-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$) deep-ultraviolet (DUV) rectangular 10-fingers interdigital metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetector array of high photo responsivity is introduced. The Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ thin film is prepared through the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technique, then used to construct the photodetector array via photolithography, lift-off, and ion beam sputtering methods. The one photodetector cell shows dark current of 1.94 pA, photo-to-dark current ratio of 6$\times $10$^{7}$, photo responsivity of 634.15 A$\cdot$W$^{-1}$, specific detectivity of 5.93$\times $10$^{11}$ cm$\cdot$Hz$^{1/2}\cdot$W$^{-1}$ (Jones), external quantum efficiency of 310000%, and linear dynamic region of 108.94 dB, indicating high performances for DUV photo detection. Furthermore, the 16-cell photodetector array displays uniform performances with decent deviation of 19.6% for photo responsivity.     

High energy electron radiation effect on Ni/4H-SiC SBD and Ohmic contact

The Ni/4H-SiC Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) and transfer length method (TLM) test patterns of Ni/4H-SiC Ohmic contacts were fabricated, and irradiated with 1~MeV electrons up to a dose of 3.43× 10¹⁴~e/cm^-2. After radiation, the forward currents of the SBDs at 2~V decreased by about 50%, and the reverse currents at -200~V increased by less than 30%. Schottky barrier height (φ _B ) of the Ni/4H-SiC SBD increased from 1.20~eV to 1.21~eV under 0~V irradiation bias, and decreased from 1.25~eV to 1.19~eV under -30~V irradiation bias. The degradation of φ _B could be explained by the variation of interface states of Schottky contacts. The on-state resistance (R_s) and the reverse current increased with the dose, which can be ascribed to the radiation defects in bulk material. The specific contact resistance (\rho_c) of the Ni/SiC Ohmic contact increased from 5.11× 10⁵~Ωega.cm² to 2.97× 10^-4~Ωega.cm².     

Improved performance of MoS2 FET by in situ NH3 doping in ALD Al2O3 dielectric

Since defects such as traps and oxygen vacancies exist in dielectrics, it is difficult to fabricate a high-performance MoS$_{2}$ field-effect transistor (FET) using atomic layer deposition (ALD) Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ as the gate dielectric layer. In this paper, NH$_{3}$ in situ doping, a process treatment approach during ALD growth of Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$, is used to decrease these defects for better device characteristics. MoS$_{2}$ FET has been well fabricated with this technique and the effect of different NH$_{3}$ in situ doping sequences in the growth cycle has been investigated in detail. Compared with counterparts, those devices with NH$_{3}$ in situ doping demonstrate obvious performance enhancements: $I_{\rm on}/I_{\rm off}$ is improved by one order of magnitude, from $1.33\times 10^{5}$ to $3.56\times 10^{6}$, the threshold voltage shifts from $-0.74 $ V to $-0.12$ V and a small subthreshold swing of 105 mV/dec is achieved. The improved MoS$_{2}$ FET performance is attributed to nitrogen doping by the introduction of NH$_{3}$ during the Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ ALD growth process, which leads to a reduction in the surface roughness of the dielectric layer and the repair of oxygen vacancies in the Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ layer. Furthermore, the MoS$_{2}$ FET processed by in situ NH$_{3}$ doping after the Al and O precursor filling cycles demonstrates the best performance; this may be because the final NH$_{3}$ doping after film growth restores more oxygen vacancies to screen more charge scattering in the MoS$_{2}$ channel. The reported method provides a promising way to reduce charge scattering in carrier transport for high-performance MoS$_{2 }$ devices.     

GaN layers with different polarities prepared by radio frequency molecular beam epitaxy and characterized by Raman scattering

GaN layers with different polarities have been prepared by radio-frequency molecular beam epitaxy (RF-MBE) and characterized by Raman scattering. Polarity control are realized by controlling Al/N flux ratio during high temperature AlN buffer growth. The Raman results illustrate that the N-polarity GaN films have frequency shifts at $A_{1}$(LO) mode because of their high carrier density; the forbidden $A_{1}$(TO) mode occurs for mixed-polarity GaN films due to the destroyed translation symmetry by inversion domain boundaries (IDBS); Raman spectra for Ga-polarity GaN films show that they have neither frequency shifts mode nor forbidden mode. These results indicate that Ga-polarity GaN films have a better quality, and they are in good agreement with the results obtained from the room temperature Hall mobility. The best values of Ga-polarity GaN films are 1042 cm$^{2}$/Vs with a carrier density of 1.0$\times $10$^{17}$~cm$^{ - 3}$.     

Edge assisted epitaxy of CsPbBr3 nanoplates on Bi2O2Se nanosheets for enhanced photoresponse

Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se has been proved to be a promising candidate for electronic and optoelectronic devices due to their unique physical properties. However, it is still a great challenge to construct the heterostructures with direct epitaxy of hetero semiconductor materials on Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se nanosheets. Here, a two-step chemical vapor deposition (CVD) route was used to directly grow the CsPbBr$_{3}$ nanoplate-Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se nanosheet heterostructures. The CsPbBr$_{3}$ nanoplates were selectively grown on the Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se nanosheet along the edges, where the dangling bonds provide the nucleation sites. The epitaxial relationships between CsPbBr$_{3}$ and Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se were determined as ${[200]}_{\rm Bi_{2}O_{2}Se}||{[110]}_{\rm CsPbBr_{3}}$ and ${[110]}_{\rm Bi_{2}O_{2}Se}||{[200]}_{\rm CsPbBr_{3}}$ by transmission electron microscopy characterization. The photoluminescence (PL) results reveal that the formation of heterostructures results in the remarkable PL quenching due to the type-I band arrangement at CsPbBr$_{3}$/Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se interface, which was confirmed by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and Kelvin probe measurements, and makes the photogenerated carriers transfer from CsPbBr$_{3}$ to Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se. Importantly, the photodetectors based on the heterostructures exhibit a 4-time increase in the responsivity compared to those based on the pristine Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se sheets, and the fast rise and decay time in microsecond. These results indicate that the direct epitaxy of the CsPbBr$_{3}$ plates on the Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se sheet may improve the optoelectronic performance of Bi$_{2}$O$_{2}$Se based devices.     

Effect of carbon nanotubes addition on thermoelectric properties of Ca3Co4O9 ceramics

Increasing the phonon scattering center by adding nanoparticles to thermoelectric materials is an effective method of regulating the thermal conductivity. In this study, a series of Ca$_{3}$Co$_{4}$O$_{9}/x$ wt.% CNTs ($x=0$, 3, 5, 7, 10) polycrystalline ceramic thermoelectric materials by adding carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were prepared with sol-gel method and cold-pressing sintering technology. The results of x-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy show that the materials have a single-phase structure with high orientation and sheet like microstructure. The effect of adding carbon nanotubes to the thermoelectric properties of Ca$_{3}$Co$_{4}$O$_{9}$ was systematically measured. The test results of thermoelectric properties show that the addition of carbon nanotubes reduces the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient of the material. Nevertheless, the thermal conductivity of the samples with carbon nanotubes addition is lower than that of the samples without carbon nanotubes. At 625 K, the thermal conductivity of Ca$_{3}$Co$_{4}$O$_{9}$/10 wt.% CNTs sample is reduced to 0.408 W$\cdot$m$^{-1}\cdot$K$^{-1}$, which is about 73% lower than that of the original sample. When the three parameters are coupled, the figure of merit of Ca$_{3}$Co$_{4}$O$_{9}$/3 wt.% CNTs sample reaches 0.052, which is 29% higher than that of the original sample. This shows that an appropriate amount of carbon nanotubes addition can reduce the thermal conductivity of Ca$_{3}$Co$_{4}$O$_{9}$ ceramic samples and improve their thermoelectric properties.     

Influence of Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio on the structural and photoluminescence properties of In0.52AlAs/In0.53GaAs metamorphic high electron mobility transistor grown by molecular beam epitaxy

A series of metamorphic high electron mobility transistors （MMHEMTs） with different Ⅴ/Ⅲ flux ratios are grown on CaAs （001） substrates by molecular beam epitaxy （MBE）. The samples are analysed by using atomic force microscopy （AFM）, Hall measurement, and low temperature photoluminescence （PL）. The optimum Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio in a range from 15 to 60 for the growth of MMHEMTs is found to be around 40. At this ratio, the root mean square （RMS） roughness of the material is only 2.02 nm; a room-temperature mobility and a sheet electron density are obtained to be 10610.0cm^2/（V.s） and 3.26×10^12cm^-2 respectively. These results are equivalent to those obtained for the same structure grown on InP substrate. There are two peaks in the PL spectrum of the structure, corresponding to two sub-energy levels of the In0.53Ga0.47As quantum well. It is found that the photoluminescence intensities of the two peaks vary with the Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio, for which the reasons are discussed.     

Configurational entropy-induced phase transition in spinel LiMn2O4

The spinel-type LiMn$_{2}$O$_{4}$ is a promising candidate as cathode material for rechargeable Li-ion batteries due to its good thermal stability and safety. Experimentally, it is observed that in this compound there occur the structural phase transitions from cubic ($Fd\bar{3}m)$ to tetragonal ($I4_{1}/{amd}$) phase at slightly below room temperature. To understand the phase transition mechanism, we compare the Gibbs free energy between cubic phase and tetragonal phase by including the configurational entropy. Our results show that the configurational entropy contributes substantially to the stability of the cubic phase at room temperature due to the disordered Mn$^{3+}$/Mn$^{4+}$ distribution as well as the orientation of the Jahn-Teller elongation of the Mn$^{3+}$O$_{6}$ octahedron in the the spinel phase. Meanwhile, the phase transition temperature is predicted to be 267.8 K, which is comparable to the experimentally observed temperature. These results serve as a good complement to the experimental study, and are beneficial to the improving of the electrochemical performance of LiMn$_{2}$O$_{4}$ cathode.