Characterization of capture cross sections of interface states in dielectric/III-nitride heterojunction structures

Abstract

We performed, for the first time, quantitative characterization of electron capture cross sections σ of the interface states at dielectric/III-N heterojunction interfaces. We developed a new method, which is based on the photo-assisted capacitance-voltage measurements using photon energies below the semiconductor band gap. The analysis was carried out for AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor heterojunction (MISH) structures with Al2O3, SiO2, or SiN films as insulator deposited on the AlGaN layers with Al content (x) varying over a wide range of values. Additionally, we also investigated an Al2O3/InAlN/GaN MISH structure. Prior to insulator deposition, the AlGaN and InAlN surfaces were subjected to different treatments. We found that σ for all these structures lies in the range between 5×10−19 and 10−16 cm2. Furthermore, we revealed that σ for dielectric/AlxGa1−xN interfaces increases with increasing x. We showed that both the multiphonon-emission and cascade processes can explain the obtained results.