Degradation mechanism of GaAs MESFETs

Abstract

The reliability of the Au/Pt/Ti Schottky gate of low–high doped GaAs MESFETs has been investigated by thermal step stress and accelerated life tests and their degradation mechanisms were analyzed by means of Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, current–voltage, and capacitance–voltage measurements. Electrical measurements showed that the failure of the GaAs MESFETs was mainly due to the degradation of the Au/Pt/Ti/GaAs Schottky contact. An activation energy of 1.3 eV and a lifetime of 2×10 8 h at 125°C for Schottky contact were evaluated. At a temperature lower than 350°C, the degradation of the Schottky contact is attributed to the decrease of net electron concentration caused by outdiffusion of host Ga atoms of GaAs. The activation energy for the decrease of net electron concentration is determined to be 1.4 eV using the capacitance–voltage measurement, which is consistent with 1.3 eV obtained by the accelerated life tests. This suggests that the major thermal degradation mechanism at a temperature lower than 350°C is the outdiffusion of Ga atoms from the channel. Meanwhile, the effective channel thickness at a temperature higher than 350°C is reduced by the formation of TiAs at the Schottky interface, the activation energy of which is determined to be 1.74 eV.