Schottky barrier height of Ni to β-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 with different compositions grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

Coherent β-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 films (x = 0, 0.038, 0.084, 0.164) were grown successfully on a Sn-doped β-Ga2O3 (010) substrate using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Atom probe tomography, transmission electron microscopy, and high resolution x-ray diffraction were used to verify the alloy composition and high quality of the films. Schottky diodes were then fabricated using Ni as the Schottky metal. Capacitance–voltage measurements revealed a very low (<7 × 1015 cm−3) free charge density in the nominally undoped films. The barrier height and ideality factor were estimated by current–voltage (I–V) measurements performed at temperatures varying from 300 K to 500 K on the Schottky diodes. These measurements revealed that the apparent Schottky barrier height could have similar values for different compositions of β-(AlxGa1−x)2O3. We believe this is attributed to the lateral fluctuation in the alloy’s composition. This results in a lateral variation in the barrier height. Therefore, the average Schottky barrier height extracted from I–V measurements could be similar for β-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 films with different compositions.