RuO2/GaN Schottky contact formation with superiorforward and reverse characteristics

This is a first time report of a ruthenium oxide (RuO₂) Schottky contact on GaN. RuO₂ and Pt Schottky diodes were fabricated and their characteristics compared. When the RuO₂ Schottky contact was annealed at 500°C for 30 min, the current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of the RuO₂ were dramatically improved. The annealed RuO₂ /GaN Schottky contact exhibited a reverse leakage current that was at least two or three orders lower in magnitude than that of the Pt/GaN contact along with a very large barrier height of 1.46 eV, which is the highest value ever reported for a GaN Schottky system     

Schottky-clamped NMOS transistors implemented in a conventional0.8-μm CMOS process

An 0.8-μm n-channel MOSFET with a TiSi₂-Si Schottky clamped drain-to-body junction (SCDR) and an n⁺ implanted standard source structure have been fabricated in a conventional 0.8-μm salicide CMOS process without any process modifications. The SCDR should be useful for reducing susceptibility for latch-up in integrated CMOS RF power amplifiers and switches where drain to p-substrate junctions can be forward biased during normal operations. Output I-V characteristics of the devices are the same as those of conventional MOSFETs, while parasitic lateral n⁺-drain/p-substrate/n⁺-source bipolar transistor measurements showed significantly reduced current gains because the Schottky barrier diode which does not inject minority carriers (electrons) to the p-substrate base clamps the n⁺ drain-to-p-substrate guard-ring diode connected in parallel     

Characterization of shallow silicided junctions for sub-quartermicron ULSI technology. Extraction of silicidation induced Schottkycontact area

The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of shallow silicided p ⁺-n and n⁺-p junctions are presented. In the former the diode behavior was same as in nonsilicided junction, while drastic change in diode I-V was observed in the latter. The formation of Schottky contact was conclusively shown to be the root cause of the modified I-V behavior of n⁺-p junction in the forward bias region. Poole-Frenkel barrier lowering predominantly influenced the reverse leakage current, masking thereby the effect of Schottky contact. The leakage current in n⁺-p diodes was higher than in nonsilicided diodes by two orders of magnitude and this is consistent with the formation of Schottky contact via titanium or titanium-silicide penetrating into the p-substrate and generating trap sites. There is no increase in the leakage current and no formation of Schottky contact in case of the p⁺-n junction. The Schottky contact amounting to less than 0.01% of the total junction area and not amenable for SEM or TEM observation was extracted for the first time by simultaneous characterization of forward and reverse characteristics of silicided n ⁺-p diode     

Temperature dependence of Al/undoped Al0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs capacitors

Undoped Al0.5Ga0.5As is used in place of the insulator layer in the fabrication of MIS-type capacitors with Schottky gates. The current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics of the capacitors were measured as a function of temperature in the range 300-77 K. At high temperatures current is by thermionic emission over the barrier determined by the Schottky contact and the Al0.5Ga0.5As/ GaAs conduction band discontinuity. As the temperature is lowered, Fowler-Nordheim tunneling is observed at sufficiently large gate biases and at 77 K conduction is ohmic. Based on I-V and C-V data the electron accumulation layer density is estimated to be about 1 × 10¹²cm^-2at 77 K when the capacitor is positively biased. The results obtained indicate that for an appropriate choice of parameters it should be possible to fabricate MIS-like transistors suitable for high-speed operation at 77 K.     

/sup 60/Co gamma irradiation effects on n-GaN Schottky diodes

The effect of /spl gamma/-ray exposure on the electrical characteristics of nickel/n-GaN Schottky barrier diodes has been investigated using current-voltage (I-V), capacitance-voltage (C-V), and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements. The results indicate that /spl gamma/-irradiation induces an increase in the effective Schottky barrier height extracted from C-V measurements. Increasing radiation dose was found to degrade the reverse leakage current, whereas its effect on the forward I-V characteristics was negligible. Low temperature (/spl les/50) post-irradiation annealing after a cumulative irradiation dose of 21 Mrad(Si) was found to restore the reverse I-V characteristics to pre-irradiation levels without significantly affecting the radiation-induced changes in C-V and forward I-V characteristics. Three shallow radiation-induced defect centers with thermal activation energies of 88 104 and 144 meV were detected by DLTS with a combined production rate of 2.12 /spl times/ 10/sup -3/ cm/sup -1/. These centers are likely to be related to nitrogen-vacancies. The effect of high-energy radiation exposure on device characteristics is discussed taking into account possible contact inhomogeneities arising from dislocations and interfacial defects. The DLTS results indicate that GaN has an intrinsically low susceptibility to radiation-induced material degradation, yet the effects observed in the Schottky diode I-V and C-V characteristics indicate that the total-dose radiation hardness of GaN devices may be limited by susceptibility of the metal-GaN interface to radiation-induced damage.     

High-breakdown characteristics of the InP-based heterostructurefield-effect transistor withIn0.34Al0.66As0.85Sb0.15Schottky layer

We report improved breakdown characteristics of InP-based heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFET's) utilizing In_0.34 Al_0.66As_0.85Sb_0.15 Schottky layer grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Due to high energy bandgap and high Schottky barrier height (>0.73 eV) of the In_0.34Al_0.66As_0.85Sb_0.15 Schottky layer, high two-terminal gate-to-drain breakdown voltage of 40 V, three-terminal off-state breakdown voltage of 40 V three-terminal threshold-state breakdown voltage of 31 V, and three-terminal on-state breakdown voltage of 18 V at 300 K for In_0.75Ga_0.25As channel, are achieved. Moreover, the temperature dependence of two-terminal reverse leakage current is also investigated. The two-terminal gate-to-drain breakdown voltage is up to 36 V at 420 K. A maximum extrinsic transconductance of 216 mS/mm is obtained with a gate length of 1.5 μm     

Avalanche electron injection in 4-nmSi3N4/8-nm SiO2 dielectric structure:turn-around phenomenon and Si-SiO2 interface degradation

Charge trapping and interface-state generation in very thin nitride/oxide (4-nm Si₃N₄+8-nm SiO₂) composite gate insulators are studied as a function of gate electrode work function and bottom oxide thickness. The behavior of the trapped positive charge under bias-temperature stress after avalanche electron injection (AEI) is investigated. Evidence is presented that secondary hole injection from the anode (gate/Si₃N₄ interface) and subsequent trapping near the SiO₂-Si interface result in a turnaround of the flatband voltage shift during AEI from the substrate. Just like the thermal oxides on Si, slow-state generation near the SiO₂-Si interface and boron acceptor passivation in the surface-space charge layer of the Si substrate are also observed after AEI in these nitride/oxide capacitors, and they are found to be strongly related to the secondary hole injection and trapping. Finally, interface-state generation can take place with little secondary anode hole injection and is enhanced by the occurrence of hole trapping     

A fully planarized 4H-SiC trench MOS barrier Schottky (TMBS)rectifier

A fully planarized 4H-SiC trench MOS barrier Schottky (TMBS) rectifier has been designed, fabricated and characterized for the first time. The use of a TMBS structure helps improve the reverse leakage current by more than three orders of magnitude compared to that of a planar Schottky rectifier. We have achieved a low reverse leakage current density of 6×10^-6 A/cm² and a low forward voltage drop of 1.75 V at 60 A/cm² for the TMBS rectifier. The static current-voltage (I-V) and switching characteristics of the TMBS rectifier have been measured at various temperatures. A barrier height of 1.0 eV and an ideality factor of 1.8 were extracted from the forward characteristics. The switching characteristics do not change with temperature indicating the essential absence of stored charge     

Enhanced quantum efficiency of Pd2Si Schottky infrared diodes on 〈111〉 Si

A two-fold improvement in the infrared emission efficiency has been obtained on Pd2Si/p-Si Schottky diodes through a proper choice of the Si substrate orientation. Photoresponse measurements on thin Pd2Si/p-Si infrared Schottky detectors (lambda_{c} = 3.5µ) yielded Fowler C1 coefficients of 66 percent/eV for Si and 32 percent/eV for Si. Leakage current versus temperature measurements at 6-V reverse bias of these Pd2Si/p-Si diodes with guard ring structures agreed with thermionic-emission leakage-current theory using the photoresponse obtained barrier value of 0.35 eV. These results have impact on SWIR detection applications such as earth resources satellite mapping.     

Current transport in boeing (Cd, Zn)/CuInSe2solar cells

The current versus voltage (I-V) and capacitance characteristics of Boeing (Cd, Zn)S/CuInSe2solar cells are investigated and a model for the current transport is proposed. The current transport appears to involve tunneling and interface recombination in series. A mathematical model for current transport is formulated as a linear transition between the well known tunneling and interface recombination transport equations. This model is found to explain observed I-V characteristics under various temperature and illumination conditions. In particular, the nontranslation of the I-V characteristics from dark to illuminated conditions and the temperature dependences of the diode factor and the reverse saturation current can be explained. In addition, capacitance analyses have corroborated assumptions concerning the band structure and have provided independent demonstration of tunneling transport.     

A Novel Pt/In0.52Al0.48As Schottky Diode-Type Hydrogen Sensor

On the basis of a Pt/In_0.52Al_0.48As metal-semiconductor structure, a novel hydrogen sensor is fabricated and demonstrated. The studied Pt/In_0.52Al_0.48As Schottky diode-type hydrogen sensor exhibits significant sensing performance including high relative sensitivity ratio of about 2600% (under the 1% H₂/air gas and V_R=-0.5 V at 30 degC), large current variation of 310 muA (under the 1% H₂/air gas and V_R=-5 V at 200 degC), widespread reverse-voltage regime (0~-5 V), stable hydrogen-sensing current-voltage (I-V) curves, and fast transient response time of 1.5 s. The calculated Schottky barrier-height change and series-resistance variation, from the thermionic-emission model and Norde method, are 87.0 meV and 288 Omega, respectively (under the 1% H₂/air gas at 30 degC). The hydrogen concentrations and operating temperatures tested in this letter are in the range of 15 ppm-1% H₂/air and 30 degC-250 degC, respectively. Based on the excellent integration compatibility with InP-based electronic devices, the studied device provides the potentiality in high-performance sensor-array applications     

Electrical characterization of ultra-shallow junctions formed bydiffusion from a CoSi2 layer

Ultra-shallow p⁺/n and n⁺/p junctions were fabricated using a Silicide-As-Diffusion-Source (SADS) process and a low thermal budget (800-900°C). A thin layer (50 nm) of CoSi₂ was implanted with As or with BF₂ and subsequently annealed at different temperatures and times to form two ultra-shallow junctions with a distance between the silicide/silicon interface and the junction of 14 and 20 nm, respectively. These diodes were investigated by I-V and C-V measurements in the range of temperature between 80 and 500 K. The reverse leakage currents for the SADS diodes were as low as 9×10 ^-10 A/cm² for p⁺/n and 2.7×10^-9 A/cm² for n⁺/p, respectively. The temperature dependence of the reverse current in the p ⁺/n diode is characterized by a unique activation energy (1.1 eV) over all the investigated range, while in the n⁺/p diode an activation energy of about 0.42 eV is obtained at 330 K. The analysis of the forward characteristic of the diodes indicate that the p⁺ /n junctions have an ideal behavior, while the n⁺/p junctions have an ideality factor greater than one for all the temperature range of the measurements. TEM delineation results confirm that, in the case of As diffusion from CoSi₂, the junction depth is not uniform and in some regions a Schottky diode is observed in parallel to the n⁺/p junction. Finally, from the C-V measurements, an increase of the diodes area of about a factor two is measured, and it is associated with the silicide/silicon interface roughness     

Experimental and theoretical study of the current-voltagecharacteristics of the MISIM tunnel transistor

Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the metal-insulator-semiconductor-insulator-metal (MISIM) tunnel transistor in the common base and common emitter configurations are studied experimentally and theoretically. The Al-SiO₂-Si(n)-SiO₂ -Al transistors with oxide layers of about 2.5 nm thickness have been manufactured. The devices exhibit current gain above 30 in the common base configuration and switching in the common emitter configuration. A theoretical static model of the MISIM tunnel transistor has been developed and applied to analyze the measured I-V characteristics for both operation configurations. Excellent fit of the model to the experimental data has been achieved. Influence of oxide thickness and interface trap density on the switching voltage has been investigated theoretically     

Effect of KOH treatment on the schottky barrier height and reverse leakage current in Pt/n-GaN

The effect of potassium hydroxide (KOH) treatment was investigated for Pt/n-GaN Schottky diodes using current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed that the surface profile did not change significantly as a result of KOH treatment. The Schottky barrier height increased for both I-V and C-V measurements. The reverse leakage current was also reduced by KOH treatment. By fitting these data to the reverse current based on the thermionic field emission (TFE) model, it was shown that the experimental results are consistent with the presence of high densities of surface states, which were reduced appreciably by KOH treatment. The similar behavior of Pt/n-GaN samples grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) suggests that the KOH treatment is effective in improving the rectifying characteristics of Schottky barriers to n-GaN grown by both organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE) and HVPE.     

Theoretical and measured characteristics of metal(CoSi2)-insulator(CaF2) resonant tunnelingtransistors and the influence of parasitic elements

We report on the theoretical and measured characteristics of triple-barrier metal (CoSi₂)-insulator(CaF₂) (M-I) resonant tunneling transistors (RTT) grown on an n-Si(111) substrate, and the influence of their parasitic elements on the measured characteristics. First, we analyze theoretical characteristics of an M-I RTT, and then show fabrication process and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics obtained at 77 K, in which several degradations are observed: large resonance voltage, low peak-to-valley (P-V) ratios at negative differential resistance (NDR), and reverse base current. Analysis, taking several parasitic elements (e.g., base resistance, substrate resistance and leakage currents connected to the intrinsic transistor) into account, explains observed characteristics well. Finally, we show the first transistor action with large P-V ratios at 300 K, which is achieved by reducing collector-emitter leakage currents     

Electrical characteristics of TiB2 for ULSI applications

The work function of TiB₂ was measured using Fowler-Nordheim tunneling in MOS capacitors, Schottky diode current measurements, capacitance-voltage techniques, and contact resistance. The resulting data place the Fermi level of TiB₂ about 0.9 eV below the silicon conduction band. Given this barrier height, Schottky diodes of TiB₂/p-Si exhibit ohmic characteristics, but the contact resistance of TiB₂ to n⁺ junctions is an order of magnitude higher than the generally desired value. Boron outdiffusion from TiB₂ into underlying silicon was observed at temperatures of 1000°C and greater. Boron diffusion from TiB₂ into silicon above 1000°C is enhanced compared to the conventionally accepted value of the boron diffusivity     

Self-aligned InP p-n junction diodes fabricated with ³He+bombardment

p-n junction diodes have been defined in epitaxially grown InP layers with³He+ bombardment. The³He+ ions have been used to convert the exposed portions of the p-layers into semi-insulating regions (p = 10⁹Ω.cm). I-V characteristics with good rectification and reverse currents of ≅ 200 nA at -2 V have been obtained. This simple self-aligned and planar isolation technology based on bombardment with³He+ offers significant advantages over protons in the fabrication of InP-based devices.     

Self-aligned silicided (PtSi and CoSi2) ultra-shallow p+/n junctions

Ultra-shallow p+/n junctions (<100 nm) demonstrating excellent I-V characteristics have been fabricated with self-aligned PtSi. Junctions were formed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) 〈100〉 Si preamorphized with Sn+ and implanted with BF2+. Subsequently, low-temperature RTA in N2of sputter-deposited Pt produced a 55-nm-thick PtSi layer possessing a remarkably smooth surface and interface, and demonstrating excellent resistance to the aqua regia etch solution. The silicided junctions displayed a sheet resistance of 14 Ω/sq with less than -2-nA . cm^-2reverse-bias leakage at -5 V. In a comparative scheme, similar junction characteristics were obtained using a self-aligned 39-nm-thick CoSi2overlayer.     

Effect of surface inhomogeneities on the electrical characteristicsof SiC Schottky contacts

This paper reports analysis of the role of defects on the electrical characteristics of high-voltage 6H-SiC Schottky rectifiers. The measured reverse leakage current of high-voltage Ti and Pt rectifiers was found to be much higher than that predicted by thermionic emission theory and using a barrier height extracted from the C-V measurements. In this paper, a model based upon the presence of defects at the 6H-SiC/metal interface is used to explains this behavior. It is proposed that these defects result in lowering of the barrier height in the localized regions and thus, significantly affect the reverse I-V characteristics of the Schottky contacts. The presence of electrically active defects in the Schottky barrier area has been verified by EBIC studies     

两种不同结构n型GaN基肖特基二极管电学特性

实验研究了两种由ICP刻蚀不同结构的n型GaN材料与金属接触形成的肖特基二极管的I-V特性,分析计算了GaN基肖特基二极管的势垒高度和理想因子。研究发现n型GaN半导体材料表面费米能级钉扎,且费米能级的钉扎对n型GaN材料表面的金半接触所形成的肖特基势垒高度起决定性作用;结果表明表面经过ICP刻蚀后,n型GaN表面的氧化层消除,价带中态密度增多,有利于载流子的遂道效应与金属较易形成欧姆接触。