Degradation of β-Ga_2O_3 Schottky barrier diode under swift heavy ion irradiation

The electrical characteristics and microstructures of β-Ga_2 O_3 Schottky barrier diode(SBD) devices irradiated with swift heavy ions(2096 Me V Ta ions) have been studied. It was found that β-Ga_2 O_3 SBD devices showed the reliability degradation after irradiation, including turn-on voltage Von, on-resistance Ron, ideality factor n, and the reverse leakage current density Jr. In addition, the carrier concentration of the drift layer was decreased significantly and the calculated carrier removal rates were 5 × 10~6–1.3 × 10~7 cm~(-1). Latent tracks induced by swift heavy ions were observed visually in the whole β-Ga_2 O_3 matrix. Furthermore, crystal structure of tracks was amorphized completely. The latent tracks induced by Ta ions bombardments were found to be the reason for the decrease in carrier mobility and carrier concentration. Eventually,these defects caused the degradation of electrical characteristics of the devices. In terms of the carrier removal rates, theβ-Ga_2 O_3 SBD devices were more sensitive to swift heavy ions irradiation than Si C and Ga N devices.