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.     

Fluorine-plasma treated AlGaN/GaN high electronic mobility transistors under off-state overdrive stress

Influences of off-state overdrive stress on the fluorine-plasma treated AlGaN/GaN high-electronic mobility transistors (HEMTs) are experimentally investigated. It is observed that the reverse leakage current between the gate and source decreases after the off-state stress, whereas the current between the gate and drain increases. By analyzing those changes of the reverse currents based on the Frenkel-Poole model, we realize that the ionization of fluorine ions occurs during the off-state stress. Furthermore, threshold voltage degradation is also observed after the off-state stress, but the degradations of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs treated with different F-plasma RF powers are different. By comparing the differences between those devices, we find that the F-ions incorporated in the GaN buffer layer play an important role in averting degradation. Lastly, suggestions to obtain a more stable fluorine-plasma treated AlGaN/GaN HEMT are put forwarded.     

Enhancement of light trapping in thin-film solar cells through Ag

Forward-scattering efficiency (FSE) is first proposed when an Ag nanoparticle serves as the light-trapping structure for thin-film (TF) solar cells because the Ag nanoparticle’s light-trapping efficiency lies on the light-scattering direction of metal nanoparticles.Based on FSE analysis of Ag nanoparticles with radii of 53 and 88 nm,the forward-scattering spectra and light-trapping efficiencies are calculated.The contributions of dipole and quadrupole modes to light-trapping effect are also analyzed quantitatively.When the surface coverage of Ag nanoparticles is 5%,light-trapping efficiencies are 15.5% and 32.3%,respectively,for 53and 88-nm Ag nanoparticles.Results indicate that the plasmon quadrupole mode resonance of Ag nanoparticles could further enhance the light-trapping effect for TF solar cells.