金属/氮化物肖特基势垒和欧姆接触研究进展

金属 /氮化物肖特基势垒和欧姆接触是蓝紫光光学器件及高温大功率电子器件中的关键工艺。氮化物半导体是一种极性材料 ,表面态密度较低 ,费米能级钉扎效应较弱 ,表面处理能显著影响接触特性。样品表面的沾污和氧化层也会使接触特性显著退化。宽禁带材料的杂质离化能高 ,重掺杂比较困难。深能级陷阱对载流子的俘获效应很强。这些因素都增加了接触的制作难度 ,促使人们寻求新的方案来改进接触特性。文中从金属 /半导体接触的物理模型出发来综述肖特基势垒和欧姆接触的研究进展 ,希望能给器件研究者提供新的思路。     

High-temperature stability of refractory-metal VLSI GaAs MESFETs

Commercially available, self-aligned VLSI GaAs MESFETs, with tungsten-based refractory-metal Schottky gates, nickel-based refractory-metal ohmic contacts, and aluminum interconnection metallization, have been thermally cycled and shown to be stable after 3 h at temperatures up to 500°C. Both partially processed and fully processed wafers were found to be stable with no significant change occurring in either Schottky gate or ohmic contact properties. An increase in the channel resistance component of the series resistance is believed to be responsible for I_DS and g_m degradation above 500°C. The fact that commercially available, gold-free VLSI GaAs MESFETs are able to withstand such thermal cycles has very important consequences for monolithic optoelectronic integrated circuit (OEIC) fabrication because it means that it may now be feasible to grow photonic device heterostructures epitaxially on MESFET VLSI wafers; process them into lasers, modulators, and/or detectors; and interconnect them with the electronics to produce VLSI-density OEICs     

Simplified ohmic and Schottky contact formation for field effecttransistors using the single layer integrated metal field effecttransistor (SLIMFET) process

A new III-V semiconductor device fabrication process for GaAs-based field effect transistors (FET) is presented which uses a single lithographic process and metal deposition step to form both the ohmic drain/source contacts and the Schottky gate contact concurrently. This single layer integrated metal FET (SLIMFET) process simplifies the fabrication process by eliminating an additional lithographic step for gate definition, a separate gate metallization step, and thermal annealing for ohmic contact formation. The SLIMFET process requires a FET structure which incorporates a compositionally graded In_xGa_1-xAs cap layer to form low resistance, nonalloyed ohmic contacts using standard Schottky metals. The SLIMFET process also uses a Si₃N₄ mask to provide selective removal of the InGaAs ohmic layers from the gate region prior to metallization without requiring an additional lithographic step. GaAs MESFET devices were fabricated using this new SLIMFET process which achieved DC and RF performance comparable to GaAs MESFET's fabricated by conventional methods     

Thermally stable Nb and Nb/Au ohmic contacts to p-GaN

We have investigated Nb single and Nb/Au metallization schemes for the formation of thermally stable ohmic contacts to p-GaN. It is shown that the asdeposited Nb and Nb/Au contacts exhibit rectifying behavior. However, both the contacts produce ohmic characteristics when annealed at 850°C. Measurements show that the 850°C Nb/Au and Nb contacts yield a specific contact resistance of 1.9×10⁻⁸ and 2×10⁻² ωcm², respectively. Schottky barrier heights are found to decrease with increasing annealing temperature. A comparison of the XRD and electrical results shows that the formation of gallide phases such as Ga-Nb and Ga-Au compounds, play a role in forming ohmic contacts. Atomic force microscopy results show that the surface morphology of the Nb contacts is fairly stable up to 850°C, while the Nb/Au contacts are slightly degraded upon annealing at 850°C.     

Ohmic contacts to n-type GaN

Ohmic contacts to n-GaN using Ag, Au, TiN, Au/Ti, Au/Mo/Ti, and Au/Si/Ti have been studied. The Fermi level of GaN appears to be unpinned, and metals and compounds with work functions less than the electron affinity resulted in ohmic contacts. Reactively sputter deposited TiN was ohmic as deposited. However, Au/Ti, Au/Mo/Ti, and Au/Si/Ti required heat treatments to form ohmic contacts, with the best being an RTA at 900°C. Ag and Au were shown to diffuse across the GaN surface at T>500°C; therefore, they are unstable, poor ohmic contact metallizations as single metals. The other contact schemes were thermally stable up to 500°C for times of 30 min.     

Investigation of the structural and electrical properties of Al-Ge-Ni contacts to GaAs

The microstructure of Al-Ge-Ni ohmic contacts to bothn- andp-type GaAs has been investigated by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Electrical assessment of these contacts shows that ohmic contacts with low specific contact resistances are formed on bothn- andp-type material and that the thickness of Ge deposited and the alloying time have a large influence over the degree of ohmicity observed, particularly in the case ofn-type material. TEM had previously shown the contact interface to be extremely flat and uniform in all cases with a continuous single phase polycrystalline layer of Al₃Ni adjacent to the semicon-ductor. SIMS shows that the contact components, especially the Al, diffuse into the un-derlying semiconductor during alloying. The possible reasons for the observed varia-tions in ohmic behaviour as a result of processing are discussed in terms of the microstructure.     

Technological Fabrication Features of Microwave Device with Schottky Barriers

At present, research and development of heterojunctions are conducted in the directions of searching for new compositions and technological regimes for the creation of ohmic and barrier transitions for gallium arsenide. The transition to silver-based metallization, which has large thermal and electrical conductivity comparing with gold and a relatively low diffusion coefficient to gallium arsenide, should improve the technical characteristics of the devices. One of the most important technological operations in the formation of Schottky ohmic contacts and barriers is thermal annealing. Silver to gallium arsenide contacts are made in vacuum by the method of thermal evaporation. The deposition and thermal treatment regimes for creating ohmic contacts of Ag–Ge–In/n–n⁺ GaAs with specific contact resistance ρ_c = (5...7)+10^–5 Ω.cm² are developed. The influence of the substrate temperature during the silver deposition and the annealing temperature on the height of the Schottky barrier Ag/n–n⁺ GaAs, the injection coefficient γ and the nonideality factor η is established.     

VLSI中钛硅化物肖特基接触特性与退火条件

基于 Ti Si2 低电阻率的优点 ,采用 Ti制作肖特基二极管。在 VL SI工艺中实现同时完成钛硅化物欧姆接触和肖特基势垒二极管 (SBD)的制作。文中用 AES等技术研究不同退火工艺形成的 Ti/ Si界面形态和结构 ,寻找完善的工艺设计和退火条件。此外还测量 Al/ Ti N/ Ti/ Si结构的金属硅化物 SBD的有关特性。通过工艺实验确定 VL SI中的钛硅化物最佳的制作工艺条件     

A molybdenium source,gate and drain metallization system for GaAs MESFET layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Molecular beam epitaxy has been used in a continuous growth procedure to form GeGaAs epitaxial structures that were suitable for MESFET fabrication. Near surface doping profiles were engineered such that low resistance ohmic contacts to the GaAs layer were obtained by subsequently depositing a metal overlayer on the Ge surface. Evaporated Au overlayers yielded specific contact resistances of the order of 10^?6ω cm² without heat treatment. Because the conventional alloying procedure now appeared superfluous, metallurgically non-reactive systems were investigated with a view to constructing GaAs MESFETs with entirely refractory metallizations. Sputtered molybdenum has been evaluated for both the formation of ohmic contacts to the Ge/GaAs layers and rectifying contacts to the GaAs layer. Damage introduced as a result of the sputtering deposition process is the probable cause of non-ideality in the as-prepared Schottky barriers. However, forward bias current-voltage ideality factors of n = 1.07 have been obtained after annealing.     

Ohmic contacts to p-CuInSe2 crystals

We report here on the optimization of ohmic contacts to p-CuInSe₂ (CISe) single crystals. A low resistance ohmic contact is required to minimize current losses due to series resistance; e.g. in Schottky diodes. Both In-Ga (eutectic)/CISe and gold (evaporatedVCISe contacts have been fabricated on crystals with different orientations and bulk properties. Gold contacts were found to have a lower resistance and to be more stable than In-Ga ones, from the slope of the linear current-voltage plot of the junctions. The resistance of the Au/CISe ohmic contact was decreased by etching the CISe crystal surface chemically in a 0.5% solution of Br₂ in methanol for 30 sec at room temperature, prior to gold deposition, while that of the In-Ga contact increased by this etch. Wetting experiments and contact angle measurements showed evidence for changes in the polarity of the surface due to chemical etches.     

大功率倒装结构GaN LED p电极研究

从接触电阻、反射率、电流扩展等方面对Ni/Au/Ag,ITO/Ag,Ag等多种倒装结构p电极金属体系进行分析比较，给出了实现倒装结构大功率GaN LED p电极的多种设计方案. 指出Ni/Au金属化体系在大功率LED应用中存在的热稳定性问题及Ru,Ir等新型金属体系实现GaN p电极接触的潜在优势.     

Low resistance pd/ge ohmic contacts to epitaxially lifted-off n-type GaAs film

A low resistance PdGe nonalloyed ohmic contact has been successfully formed to epitaxially lifted-off n-type GaAs films. The contact is made by lifting off partially metallized n-type GaAs films using the epitaxial lift-off method and bonding them to metallized Si substrates by natural intermolecular Van Der Waals forces. Low temperature sintering (200°C) of this contact results in metallurgical bonding and formation of the ohmic contact. We have measured specific contact resistances of 5 × 10⁻⁵ Ω-cm₂ which is almost half the value obtained for pure Pd contacts. Germanium forms a degenerately doped heterojunction interfacial layer to GaAs. Our experimental results show that germanium diffuses to the interface and acts as a dopant layer to n-GaAs film surface. Therefore, for epitaxially lifted-off n-type GaAs films, PdGe is a low resistance ohmic metal contact to use.     

Mechanisms of current flow in metal-semiconductor ohmic contacts

Published data on the properties of metal-semiconductor ohmic contacts and mechanisms of current flow in these contacts (thermionic emission, field emission, thermal-field emission, and also current flow through metal shunts) are reviewed. Theoretical dependences of the resistance of an ohmic contact on temperature and the charge-carrier concentration in a semiconductor were compared with experimental data on ohmic contacts to II–VI semiconductors (ZnSe, ZnO), III–V semiconductors (GaN, AlN, InN, GaAs, GaP, InP), Group IV semiconductors (SiC, diamond), and alloys of these semiconductors. In ohmic contacts based on lightly doped semiconductors, the main mechanism of current flow is thermionic emission with the metal-semiconductor potential barrier height equal to 0.1–0.2 eV. In ohmic contacts based on heavily doped semiconductors, the current flow is effected owing to the field emission, while the metal-semiconductor potential barrier height is equal to 0.3–0.5 eV. In alloyed In contacts to GaP and GaN, a mechanism of current flow that is not characteristic of Schottky diodes (current flow through metal shunts formed by deposition of metal atoms onto dislocations or other imperfections in semiconductors) is observed.     

Formation of ohmic contacts to p-ZnTe

Formation and temperature stability of sputter deposited gold ohmic contacts to molecular beam epitaxially grown p-type ZnTe (doped with nitrogen to a free hole concentration of ≈3 × 1018 cm³) have been studied using current-voltage (I-V), Auger electron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and optical and scanning electron microscopy. The I-V characteristics of ≈1500Å Au/p-ZnTe contacts were measured as-deposited and after heat treatments at 150, 200, 250, and 350°C for 15 min intervals up to 90 min. As deposited, the contacts were poor Schottky contacts, but became ohmic after 15 min at all temperatures. There was an increased resistance at t>15 min for T≤250°C, and a very large resistance increase upon heat treatment for all times at 350°C. The interface between the metallization and ZnTe was initially very planar, and remained planar upon formation of the ohmic contact. Upon heating at T>250°C, Au diffused into ZnTe. The ohmic behavior of the Au/p-ZnTe contacts is attributed to this diffusion which created a highly doped near-surface region in the ZnTe. Microscopy showed that Au also migrated across the ZnTe surface forming an extended reaction zone (≈100 μm) around the dot contact at T≥250°C.     

Long-term stability of Ni-silicide ohmic contact to n-type 4H-SiC

The thermal stability of Ni₂Si/n-SiC ohmic contacts with Au overlayer without or with Ta-Si-N diffusion barrier was investigated after long anneals at 400 °C in air. Current-voltage characteristics, sheet resistance measurements, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the contacts before and after aging. It is shown that aging of Au/Ni₂Si/n-SiC contact at 400 °C for 50 h resulted in electrical failure, as well as complete contact degradation for 150 h due to interdiffusion/reaction processes in the contact. The Au/Ta₃₅Si₁₅N₅₀/Ni₂Si/n-SiC contact is thermally stable after 150 h of aging at 400 °C and has great potential for use in SiC-based devices for high-temperature operation.     

InSe Schottky Diodes Based on Van Der Waals Contacts

2D semiconductors are excellent candidates for next‐generation electronics and optoelectronics thanks to their electrical properties and strong light‐matter interaction. To fabricate devices with optimal electrical properties, it is crucial to have both high‐quality semiconducting crystals and ideal contacts at metal‐semiconductor interfaces. Thanks to the mechanical exfoliation of van der Waals crystals, atomically thin high‐quality single‐crystals can easily be obtained in a laboratory. However, conventional metal deposition techniques can introduce chemical disorder and metal‐induced mid‐gap states that induce Fermi level pinning and can degrade the metal‐semiconductor interfaces, resulting in poorly performing devices. In this article, the electrical contact characteristics of Au–InSe and graphite–InSe van der Waals contacts, obtained by stacking mechanically exfoliated InSe flakes onto pre‐patterned Au or graphite electrodes without the need for lithography or metal deposition is explored. The high quality of the metal‐semiconductor interfaces obtained by van der Waals contact allows to fabricate high‐quality Schottky diodes based on the Au–InSe Schottky barrier. The experimental observation indicates that the contact barrier at the graphite–InSe interface is negligible due to the similar electron affinity of InSe and graphite, while the Au–InSe interfaces are dominated by a large Schottky barrier.     

High-temperature Schottky diodes with thin-film diamond base

High-temperature (500-580°C) current-voltage (I-V ) characteristics of gold contacts to boron-doped homoepitaxial diamond films prepared using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method are described. Schottky diodes were formed using gold contacts to chemically cleaned boron-doped homoepitaxial diamond films. These devices incorporate ohmic contacts formed by annealing Au(70 nm)/Ti(10 nm) layers in air at 580°C. The experiments with homoepitaxial diamond films show that the leakage current density increases with the contact area. This implies that a nonuniform current distribution exists across the diode, presumably due to crystallographic defects in the diamond film. As a result, Au contacts with an area >1 mm² are essentially ohmic and can be used to form back contacts to Schottky diodes. Schottky diodes fabricated in this matter also show rectifying I-V characteristics in the 25-580°C temperature range     

Series impedance of GaAs planar Schottky diodes operated to 500 GHz

The author discusses the impact of ohmic contacts on the series impedance of a GaAs cylindrical planar Schottky diode. The expression for the high-frequency impedance of an annular ohmic contact is developed using a novel transmission line model. This formulation is used to ascertain the contribution of the ohmic contact impedance to the overall device series impedance at both DC and 500 GHz. Diode impedance characterization indicates that the ohmic contact impedance makes a small contribution to the series impedance in comparison to that of the other components, both at DC and submillimeter wavelengths. Hence, the dimensions of the contact pads can be scaled down significantly without any appreciable increase in series impedance but with a decrease in the parasitic pad-to-pad capacitance. Finally, this modeling establishes theoretical guidelines regarding the allowable limits for specific contact resistance in small geometry diodes, so that the device I -V characteristics are not significantly altered as a result of the ohmic contact impedance     

Microstructural analysis of NiInGe ohmic contacts for n-type GaAs

NiInGe ohmic contact materials, which are attractive to use in future GaAs devices, were previously developed in our laboratories. Although the NiInGe contacts provided low contact resistances of about 0.3 Ω-mm and excellent thermal stability, further reduction of the contact resistance (R_C) of the NiInGe contacts was mandatory to use these contacts in submicron devices. In this paper, the microstructural parameters, which influence the R_C values, were investigated by correlating the R_C values with the microstructure at the interface between the contact materials and the GaAs substrate. The R_C values of the NiInGe contacts were found to depend strongly on the volume fraction and the In concentration (x) of the In_xGa_1−xAs compound semiconductor layers, which were formed at the metal/GaAs interface. Both the volume fraction and the In concentration of the In_xGa_1−xAs layers were found to depend on the thickness of the In layer used in the NiInGe contact and the annealing temperature to form the ohmic contact. A R_C value of 0.18 Ω-mm was obtained for the Ni (18 nm)/In (13 nm)/Ge (30 nm) contact (where a slash “/” indicates the deposition sequence) after annealing at temperature of 650°C for 5 sec.