Effect of Gate Sinking on the Device Performance of the InGaP/AlGaAs/InGaAs Enhancement-Mode PHEMT

An enhancement-mode InGaP/AlGaAs/InGaAs pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistor using platinum (Pt) as the Schottky contact metal was investigated for the first time. Following the Pt/Ti/Pt/Au gate metal deposition, the devices were thermally annealed at 325 degC for gate sinking. After the annealing, the device showed a positive threshold voltage (V_th) shift from 0.17 to 0.41 V and a very low drain leakage current from 1.56 to 0.16 muA/mm. These improvements are attributed to the Schottky barrier height increase and the decrease of the gate-to-channel distance as Pt sinks into the InGaP Schottky layer during gate-sinking process. The shift in the V_th was very uniform across a 4-in wafer and was reproducible from wafer to wafer. The device also showed excellent RF power performance after the gate-sinking process     

GaN p–n junction diode formed by Si ion implantation into p-GaN

²⁸Si⁺ implantation into Mg-doped GaN, followed by thermal annealing in N₂ was performed to achieve n⁺-GaN layers. The carrier concentrations of the films changed from 3×10¹⁷ (p-type) to 5×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ (n-type) when the Si-implanted p-type GaN was properly annealed. Specific contact resistance (ρ_c) of Ti/Al/Pt/Au Ohmic contact to n-GaN, formed by ²⁸Si⁺ implantation into p-type GaN, was also evaluated by transmission line model. It was found that we could achieve a ρ_c value as low as 1.5×10⁻⁶ Ω cm² when the metal contact was alloyed in N₂ ambience at 600 °C. Si-implanted GaN p–n junction light-emitting diodes were also fabricated. Electroluminescence measurements showed that two emission peaks at around 385 and 420 nm were observed, which could be attributed to the near band-edge transition and donor-to-acceptor transition, respectively.     

InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes activated in O2 ambient

Mg-doped GaN epitaxial layers were annealed in pure O₂ and pure N₂. It was found that we could achieve a low-resistive p-type GaN by pure O₂ annealing at a temperature as low as 400°C. With a 500°C annealing temperature, it was found that the forward voltage and dynamic resistance of the InGaN/GaN light emitting diode (LED) annealed in pure O₂ were both smaller than those values observed from InGaN/GaN LED annealed in pure N₂. It was also found that an incomplete activation of Mg will result in a shorter LED lifetime     

Impact of CF4 Plasma Treatment on GaN

We present a systematic study of the impact of CF₄ plasma treatment on GaN. It was found that CF₄ plasma etches GaN at a slow rate and yields a smooth etched surface. The effect of CF₄ plasma on electrical characteristics of GaN metal-semiconductor field-effect-transistor structures shows that the CF₄ plasma introduces acceptors into the near surface region of the GaN, which depletes mobile electrons. It was further demonstrated that leakage current of AlGaN/GaN (or GaN) Schottky diodes can be significantly suppressed by proper CF₄ plasma treatment. These unique properties of CF₄ plasma can be utilized for the advanced processing of GaN transistors.     

Demonstration of GaN MIS diodes by using AlN and Ga2O3(Gd2O3) as dielectrics

GaN MIS diodes were demonstrated utilizing AlN and Ga₂O₃(Gd₂O₃) as insulators. A 345 Å of AlN was grown on the MOCVD grown n-GaN in a MOMBE system using trimethylamine alane as Al precursor and nitrogen generated from a SVT RF N₂ plasma. For the Ga₂O₃(Gd₂O₃) growth, a multi-MBE chamber was used and a 195 Å oxide was E-beam evaporated from a single crystal source of Ga₅Gd₃O₁₂. The forward breakdown voltage of AlN and Ga₂O₃(Gd₂O₃) diodes are 5 and 6 V, respectively, which are significantly improved over 1.2 V from that of a Schottky contact. From the C–V measurements, both kinds of diodes showed good charge modulation from accumulation to depletion at different frequencies. The insulator/GaN interface roughness and the thickness of the insulator were measured with X-ray reflectivity.     

Effect of arsenic implantation on electrical characteristics ofLPCVD WSi2/n-Si Schottky contacts

Electrical characteristics of As-implanted low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) WSi₂/n-Si Schottky barriers are reported. It is shown that As implantation results in a significant Schottky-barrier lowering and an increase in the diode ideality factor n. Silicide annealing prior to As implantation is more effective in reducing Schottky-barrier height. Nearly ohmic characteristics were obtained for As-implanted LPCVD WSi₂ Schottky barriers. Arsenic implanted into high-temperature annealed silicide films was more effective in reducing the effective Schottky-barrier height. Detailed SIMS analysis indicated higher As concentration at the silicide/silicon interface when implanted into high-temperature-annealed silicide films     

Pt-based metallization of PMOS devices for a compatible monolithic integration of semiconducting/Yba2Cu3O7−δ superconducting devices on silicon

Mo, Pt, Pt/Mo and Pt/Ti thin films have been deposited onto Si and SiO₂ substrates by RF sputtering and annealed in the YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ (YBCO) growth conditions. The effect of annealing on the sheet resistance of unpatterned layers was measured. A Pt-based multilayered metallization for the PMOS devices was proposed and tested for a compatible monolithic integration of semiconducting devices and YBCO sensors on the same silicon substrate. The best results were obtained with a Pt/Ti/Mo-silicide structure showing 0.472 Ω_□ interconnect sheet resistivity and 2×10⁻⁴ Ω cm² specific contact resistivity after annealing for 60 min at 700 °C in 0.5 mbar O₂ pressure.     

Plasma Treatment for Leakage Reduction in AlGaN/GaN and GaN Schottky Contacts

It has been found that the reverse leakage current of AlGaN/GaN Schottky contacts can be significantly reduced by a CF₄ plasma treatment prior to the Schottky metal evaporation. The data of electrical characterization suggest that the leakage reduction is related to the modification of the semiconductor surface by plasma treatment. The leakage reduction effect was also observed in GaN Schottky contacts. Capacitance-voltage characterization of the GaN Schottky contacts indicates that the Schottky barrier height was slightly increased by the plasma treatment. A two-step surface treatment procedure, consisting of a BCI₃ plasma treatment followed by a brief CF₄ plasma treatment, has been developed as an efficient approach to reduce the reverse leakage of the Schottky contacts, while avoiding side effects related to the CF₄ plasma.     

Effect of bottom electrode materials on the electrical andreliability characteristics of (Ba, Sr)TiO3 capacitors

The dielectric constant and the leakage current density of (Ba, Sr)TiO₃ (BST) thin films deposited on various bottom electrode materials (Pt, Ir, IrO₂/Ir, Ru, RuO₂/Ru) before and after annealing in O₂ ambient were investigated. The improvement of crystallinity of BST films deposited on various bottom electrodes was observed after the postannealing process. The dielectric constant and leakage current of the films mere also strongly dependent on the postannealing conditions. BST thin film deposited on Ir bottom electrode at 500°C, after 700°C annealing in O₂ for 20 min, has the dielectric constant of 593, a loss tangent of 0.019 at 100 kHz, a leakage current density of 1.9×10 ^-8 A/cm² at an electric field of 200 kV/cm with a delay time of 30 s, and a charge storage density of 53 fC/μm² at an applied field of 100 kV/cm. The BST films deposited on Ir with post-annealing can obtain better dielectric properties than on other bottom electrodes in our experiments. And Ru electrode is unstable because the interdiffusion of Ru and Ti occurs at the interface between the BST and Ru after postannealing. The ten year lifetime of time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) studies indicate that BST on Pt, Ir, IrO₂/Ir, Ru, and RuO₂/Ru have long lifetimes over ten gears on operation at the voltage bias of 2 V     

GaN紫外探测器的Ti/Al接触的电学特性

在非故意掺杂的和掺Si的GaN薄膜上蒸镀Ti(24nm)/Al(nm)薄膜,氮气环境下400～800℃范围内进行退火。实验结果表明,在非故意掺杂的样品上,随退火温度的升高,肖特基势垒高度下降,理想因子升高,表面状况逐渐变差,600℃退火形成较低接触电阻的欧姆接触,比接触电阻率为3.03×10-4Ωcm2,而载流子浓度为5.88×1018cm-3的掺Si的样品未退火就形成欧姆接触,比接触电阻可达到4.03×10-4Ωcm2。     

High-reflectivity Al-Pt nanostructured Ohmic contact to p-GaN

The effect of nanoscale Pt islands on the electrical characteristics of contacts to p-type gallium nitride (GaN) has been investigated to explore the feasibility for the flip-chip configuration light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using an Al-based reflector. An as-deposited Al contact to p-GaN with a net hole concentration of 3/spl times/10/sup 17/cm/sup -3/ was rectifying. However, an Al contact with nanoscale Pt islands at the interface exhibited ohmic behavior. A specific contact resistivity of 2.1/spl times/10/sup -3//spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ and a reflectance of 84% at 460 nm were measured for the Al contact with nanoscale Pt islands. Current-voltage temperature measurements revealed a Schottky barrier height reduction from 0.80 eV for the Al contact to 0.58 eV for the Al contact with nanoscale Pt islands. The barrier height reduction may be attributed to electric field enhancement and the enhanced tunneling due to the presence of the nanoscale Pt islands. This will offer an additional silver-free option for the p-type ohmic contact in flip-chip configuration LEDs. Theory suggests that the ohmic contact characteristics may be improved further with smaller Pt islands that will enhance tunneling across the interface with the GaN and in the vicinity of the Pt-Al interface.     

High voltage GaN Schottky rectifiers

Mesa and planar GaN Schottky diode rectifiers with reverse breakdown voltages (V_RB) up to 550 and >2000 V, respectively, have been fabricated. The on-state resistance, R_ON , was 6 mΩ·cm² and 0.8 Ω cm² , respectively, producing figure-of-merit values for (V_RB )²/R_ON in the range 5-48 MW·cm^-2 . At low biases the reverse leakage current was proportional to the size of the rectifying contact perimeter, while at high biases the current was proportional to the area of this contact. These results suggest that at low reverse biases, the leakage is dominated by the surface component, while at higher biases the bulk component dominates. On-state voltages were 3.5 V for the 550 V diodes and ⩾15 for the 2 kV diodes. Reverse recovery times were <0.2 μs for devices switched from a forward current density of ~500 A·cm^-2 to a reverse bias of 100 V     

Electrical characterization of annealed Ti/TiN/Pt contacts onN-type 6H-SiC epilayer

We report results of the electrical characteristics of in vacuo deposited Ti/TiN/Pt contact metallization on n-type 6H-SiC epilayer as function of impurity concentration in the range of 3.3×10¹⁷ cm^-3 to 1.9×10¹⁹ cm^-3. The as-deposited contacts are rectifying, except for the highly doped sample. Only the lesser doped remains rectifying after samples are annealed at 1000°C between 0.5 and 1 min in argon. Bulk contact resistance ranging from factors of 10^-5 to 10^-4 Ω-cm² and Schottky barrier height in the range of 0.54-0.84 eV are obtained. Adhesion problems associated with metal deposition on pre-processed titanium is not observed, leading to excellent mechanical stability. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) reveals the out diffusion of Ti-Si and agglomeration of Ti-C species at the epilayer surface. The contact resistance remains appreciably stable after treatment in air at 650°C for 65 h. The drop in SBH and the resulting stable contact resistance is proposed to be associated with the thermal activation of TiC diffusion barrier layer on the 6H-SiC epilayer during annealing     

Schottky barrier height of a new ohmic contact NiSi2 to n-type 6H-SiC

We present a new ohmic contact material NiSi₂ to n-type 6H-SiC with a low specific contact resistance. NiSi₂ films are prepared by annealing the Ni and Si films separately deposited on (0 0 0 1)-oriented 6H-SiC substrates with carrier concentrations (n) ranging from 5.8×10¹⁶ to 2.5×10¹⁹ cm⁻³. The deposited films are annealed at 900 °C for 10 min in a flow of Ar gas containing 5 vol.% H₂ gas. The specific contact resistance of NiSi₂ contact exponentially decreases with increasing carrier concentrations of substrates. NiSi₂ contacts formed on the substrates with n=2.5×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ show a relatively low specific contact resistance with 3.6×10⁻⁶ Ω cm². Schottky barrier height of NiSi₂ to n-type 6H-SiC is estimated to be 0.40±0.02 eV using a theoretical relationship for the carrier concentration dependence of the specific contact resistance.     

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     

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     

Comparison of electrical characteristics between AlGaN/GaN and lattice-matched InAlN/GaN heterostructure Schottky barrier diodes

Lattice-matched Pt/Au–In_0.17Al_0.83N/GaN hetreojunction Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with circular planar structure have been fabricated. The electrical characteristics of InAlN/GaN SBD, such as two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density, turn-on voltage, Schottky barrier height, reverse breakdown voltage and the forward current-transport mechanisms, are investigated and compared with those of a conventional AlGaN/GaN SBD. The results show that, despite the higher Schottky barrier height, more dislocations in InAlN layer causes a larger leakage current and lower reverse breakdown voltage than the AlGaN/GaN SBD. The emission microscopy images of past-breakdown device suggest that a horizontal premature breakdown behavior attributed to the large leakage current happens in the InAlN/GaN SBD, differing from the vertical breakdown in the AlGaN/GaN SBD.     

AlGaN/GaN heterojunction bipolar transistor

We demonstrate the first GaN bipolar transistor. An AlGaN/GaN HBT structure was grown by MOCVD on c-plane sapphire substrate. The emitter was grown with an Al_0.1Ga_0.9N barrier to increase the emitter injection efficiency. Cl₂ RIE was used to pattern the emitter mesa, and selectively regrown base contact pads were implemented to reduce a contact barrier associated with RIE etch damage to the base surface. The current gain of the devices was measured to be as high as three with a base width of 200 nm. DC transistor characteristics were measured to 30 V V_CE in the common emitter configuration, with an offset voltage of 5 V. A gummel plot and base contact characteristics are also presented     

GaAs surface plasma treatments for Schottky contacts

The properties of different rectifying metallizations (Al, Ti/Pt, WN_x) on GaAs have been investigated for various surface preparation procedures. In particular, in situ hydrogen plasma treatments were used to remove residual surface contamination (mainly O and C) and a nitrogen plasma to grow a thin mixed nitride layer. Al and Ti/Pt Schottky diodes with an ideality factor very close to 1, but with reduced barrier height, were found after the H₂ plasma as a consequence of H diffusion into GaAs. The Schottky barrier height was further reduced if a H₂ + N₂ plasma was performed. The N content in the sputtering environment during the WN_x deposition affects the diode properties of plasma-treated WN_x contacts. By increasing the N₂ partial pressure, the diode barrier height is reduced, probably due to nitridization of the GaAs surface. Such differences disappear after annealing the diodes in arsine overpressure at 800°C. WN_x contacts deposited under different conditions on H₂ plasma treated substrates also show a similar Schottky barrier height after such annealing.     

Surface and interface properties of PdCr/SiC Schottky diode gas sensor annealed at 425°C

The surface and interface properties of Pd_0.9Cr_0.1/SiC Schottky diode gas sensors both before and after annealing are investigated using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). At room temperature the alloy reacted with SiC and formed Pd_xSi only in a very narrow interfacial region. After annealing for 250 h at 425°C, the surface of the Schottky contact area has much less silicon and carbon contamination than that found on the surface of an annealed Pd/SiC structure. Palladium silicides (Pd_xSi) formed at a broadened interface after annealing, but a significant layer of alloy film is still free of silicon and carbon. The chromium concentration with respect to palladium is quite uniform down to the deep interface region. A stable catalytic surface and a clean layer of Pd_0.9Cr_0.1 film are likely responsible for significantly improved device sensitivity.