NiO gate GaN-based enhancement-mode hetrojunction field-effect transistor with extremely low on-resistance using metal organic chemical vapor deposition regrown Ge-doped layer

Abstract

In this paper, we present a normally-off GaN-based transistor with an extremely low on-resistance (Ron) fabricated by using a Ge-doped n++-GaN layer for ohmic contacts. We developed a novel GaN regrowth technique using Ge as a dopant, which achieved an extremely high doping concentration of 1 × 1020 cm−3, and thereby the lowest specific contact resistance of 1.5 × 10−6 Ω·cm2. The NiO gate fabricated using an atomic layer deposition technique reduced the spacing between the source and drain electrodes. The fabricated device showed the record-breaking Ron of 0.95 Ω·mm with the maximum drain current and transconductance of 1.1 A/mm and 490 mS/mm, respectively. Note that the obtained threshold voltage was 0.55 V. This extremely low Ron characteristic indicates the great potential of NiO-gate GaN-based heterojunction field-effect transistors.