GaN-based Schottky Barrier Diodes Research Articles

Effect of annealing on the electrical performance of N-polarity GaN Schottky barrier diodes

A nitrogen-polarity (N-polarity) GaN-based high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) shows great potential for high-frequency solid-state power amplifier applications because its two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density and mobility are minimally affected by device scaling. However, the Schottky barrier height (SBH) of N-polarity GaN is low. This leads to a large gate leakage in N-polarity GaN-based HEMTs. In this work, we investigate the effect of annealing on the electrical characteristics of N-polarity GaN-based Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with Ni/Au electrodes. Our results show that the annealing time and temperature have a large influence on the electrical properties of N-polarity GaN SBDs. Compared to the N-polarity SBD without annealing, the SBH and rectification ratio at ±5 V of the SBD are increased from 0.51 eV and 30 to 0.77 eV and 7700, respectively, and the ideal factor of the SBD is decreased from 1.66 to 1.54 after an optimized annealing process. Our analysis results suggest that the improvement of the electrical properties of SBDs after annealing is mainly due to the reduction of the interface state density between Schottky contact metals and N-polarity GaN and the increase of barrier height for the electron emission from the trap state at low reverse bias.

GaN-based quasi-vertical Schottky barrier diode hybridized with p-NiO layer to achieve 1.1 kV breakdown voltage and enhance the current spreading effect

We report a GaN-based Schottky barrier diode with a p-NiO field ring and field plate. It shows a low turn-on voltage (V ON) of ∼0.6 V, an On-resistance (R ON) of ∼6.5 mΩ·cm2, a nearly unity ideality factor of 1.13 at V F = 0.3 V, and a high on/off current ratio of ∼1010. The breakdown voltage (BV) is increased from 300 to 1100 V, rendering a relatively high Baliga’s power figure-of-merit of ∼0.2 GW cm−2. The improved performance is attributed to the improved current spreading effect and the suppressed field crowding effect via the implemented p-NiO.

Numerical analysis of the GaN trench MIS barrier Schottky diodes with high dielectric reliability and surge current capability

The commercialization of GaN-based Schottky barrier diodes in middle- and high- voltage applications still faces many challenges, in which the lack of an effective selective area p-type doping method is one of the main obstacles. This paper proposes novel vertical GaN-based Schottky diodes with trench MIS structure and an embedded p-GaN protection layer (junction-trench MIS barrier Schottky diodes, J-TMBS). The trench structure and lateral p-n junctions can be achieved by selectively etching the very thin p-GaN and then regrowing n-GaN. Therefore, the fabrication technology avoids the selective area p-type doping process, and the dry etching damage and poor sidewall regrowth interface issue, which are serious in GaN Merged pn/Schottky (MPS) diodes, can also be alleviated for the proposed J-TMBS. Compared with the optimized GaN trench MIS barrier Schottky (TMBS) diodes, the surge current capability and dielectric reliability of the proposed J-TMBS are significantly improved (the electric field of the dielectric layer and maximum lattice temperature under the surge test can be reduced by 448% and 202%, respectively). In addition, the specific on-resistance (Ron,sp) and breakdown voltage remain basically unchanged compared with TMBS. Compared with the optimized GaN MPS diodes, the proposed structure improves the specific on-resistance by 17.2% benefiting from the reduced area of the JFET region without degrading the reverse I–V characteristics and surge current capability. The proposed J-TMBS exhibits potential in practical high voltage (>600 V) application of GaN Schottky power diodes.

First Demonstration of L-Band High-Power Limiter with GaN Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBDs) Based on Steep-Mesa Technology

Gallium nitride (GaN) has attracted increased attention because of superior material properties, such as high electron saturation velocity and high electrical field strength, which are promising for high-power microwave applications. We report on a high-performance vertical GaN-based Schottky barrier diode (SBD) and its demonstration in a microwave power limiter for the first time. The fabricated SBD achieved a very low differential specific on-resistance (RON,sp) of 0.21 mΩ·cm2, attributed to the steep-mesa technology, which assists in reducing the spacing between the edge of the anode and cathode to 2 μm. Meanwhile, a low leakage current of ~10−9 A/cm2@−10 V, a high forward current density of 9.4 kA/cm2 at 3 V in DC, and an ideality factor of 1.04 were achieved. Scattering parameter measurements showed that the insertion loss (S21) was lower than −3 dB until 3 GHz. In addition, a microwave power limiter circuit with two anti-parallel diodes was built and measured on an alumina substrate. The input power level reached 40 dBm (10 watts) in continuous-wave mode at 2 GHz, with a corresponding leakage power of 27.2 dBm (0.5 watts) at the output port of the limiter, exhibiting the great potential of GaN SBD in microwave power limiters.

Impact of graphene interlayer on performance parameters of sandwich structure Pt/GaN Schottky barrier diodes

In this work, we have designed excellent performance GaN-based Schottky barrier diode (SBD) with a sandwich structure by inserting a graphene (Gr) interlayer. The electrical properties of Pt/Gr/GaN and Pt/GaN SBDs have been systematically investigated by the temperature-dependent current—voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage measurements in order to explore the effects of Gr on main diode parameters. At room temperature, the Pt/Gr/GaN SBD exhibited lower turn-on voltage (Von), ideality factor (n), differential specific on-resistance (Ron), and higher Schottky barrier height (SBH), signifying enhanced device attributes. Furthermore, the ideality factor and SBH for the Pt/Gr/GaN SBD were found to be insensitive to temperature from the temperature-dependent I–V analysis. The results revealed a highly homogeneous Schottky barrier interface in the case of Pt/Gr/GaN SBD. This facile strategy opened a pathway to improve the performance of the nitride Schottky rectifiers.

Design Strategies for Mesa-Type GaN-Based Schottky Barrier Diodes for Obtaining High Breakdown Voltage and Low Leakage Current

In this article, we have systematically investigated the impact of different structural parameters on the breakdown voltage for GaN-based trench MIS barrier-controlled Schottky (TMBS) rectifier. Compared with the planar Schottky rectifier, the TMBS rectifier has field plates on the mesa sidewalls so that the drift region can be depleted in a 2-D manner, which helps to decrease the electric field at the metal/mesa interface. However, the adoption of mesas can make the electric potential lines at the mesa corner dense and has large curvatures. Therefore, the premature breakdown can occur when the electric field therein reaches the critical condition. We find that the electric field profiles can be affected by insulation layer thickness, mesa width, trench depth, and different types of insulation layers. Then, we increase the breakdown voltage by homogenizing the electric field distribution in the mesa region, e.g., the electric field at mesa corners can be decreased by adopting properly thick sidewall insulator and small trench depth. Meanwhile, TMBS rectifier using sidewall insulating material with a large dielectric constant more favors a large breakdown voltage.

Physical model of conductive dislocations in GaN Schottky diodes

The excessive leakage current, commonly observed in GaN Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs), severely degrades device electrical performance and long-term reliability. This leakage current relates to the dislocation-related conductive states as observed by microscopy. Up to now, various transport models have been proposed to explain the leakage current, but none of them can clearly describe in physics the electrically active dislocations. One just equivalently regarded the electric defect as a continuum conductive defect state within the forbidden band, without considering the microscopic electrical properties of the dislocations. Here in this work, on the basis of numerical simulation, we propose a phenomenological model for the electrically active dislocations to explain the leakage conduction of the GaN Schottky diodes, which are fabricated on a freestanding bulk substrate n-GaN wafer with a low dislocation density of about 1.3106 cm-2. In this model, we emphasize that the acceptor-like traps at the core of dislocations could capture electrons from the nearby donor-like traps, resulting in a high Coulomb potential and a decreasing potential at the donor-like sites. In this case, the core of dislocations would be negatively charged, and not favor the electron transport due to a strong Coulomb scattering effect, while the shallow donor-like traps around them can lead to a significant tunneling leakage component. This model is consistent well with the common observation of the localized currents at the edges of the surface V-defects in GaN. The shallow donor-like defects in GaN induced by the substitution of oxygen for nitrogen (ON), rather than the nitrogen vacancies, act as the dominant donor impurities responsible for the significant leakage current, which has a density on the order of 1018 cm-3 and an activation energy of about 47.5 meV, because 1) it has been demonstrated that during the material growth, oxygen diffusion toward the surface pits of dislocations via nitrogen vacancies could produce an exponentially decayed distribution with a density of at least 1017 cm-3, in good agreement with our derivation; 2) by the first principle calculation, the thermal activation energy of the oxygen-related donors is determined to be about 50 meV, which is very close to our derived 47.5 meV. According to this model, we propose that reducing the ON defect density during device growth is a feasible method to suppress the high leakage current in GaN-based SBDs. In addition, this study can also improve our understanding of the leakage current in other GaN-based devices.

GaN Schottky diodes with single-crystal aluminum barriers grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

GaN-based Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with single-crystal Al barriers grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy are fabricated. Examined using in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffractions, ex-situ high-resolution x-ray diffractions, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, it is determined that epitaxial Al grows with its [111] axis coincident with the [0001] axis of the GaN substrate without rotation. In fabricated SBDs, a 0.2 V barrier height enhancement and 2 orders of magnitude reduction in leakage current are observed in single crystal Al/GaN SBDs compared to conventional thermal deposited Al/GaN SBDs. The strain induced piezoelectric field is determined to be the major source of the observed device performance enhancements.

DLTS analysis of high resistive edge termination technique‐induced defects in GaN‐based Schottky barrier diodes

Efficient edge terminations are fundamental for power electronic devices. High resistive edge termination technique obtained by ion implantation is a possible solution for GaN Schottky barrier diodes (SBD), but may induce defects detrimental to the devices. In this work, two sets of GaN SBDs, with or without a high resistive guard ring edge termination, were investigated by deep levels transient spectroscopy (DLTS). The corresponding DLTS spectra of devices with guard ring were compared to those of as‐fabricated devices (without). Four deep traps at 0.13, 0.26, 0.35, and 0.51 eV were observed below the conduction band in as‐fabricated structures while the ones with guard ring exhibit two additional levels at 0.47 and 0.80 eV and a strong enhancement in DLTS peaks magnitude. Further investigations showed that the additional traps detected in SBD devices with guard ring were consistent with ion implantation‐induced damages. These observations highlight the impact of high resistive edge termination technique on our devices and raise the need of optimization of such crucial structure for the improvement of GaN‐based Schottky barrier diode.

Reliability of Au-Free AlGaN/GaN-on-Silicon Schottky Barrier Diodes Under ON-State Stress

In this paper, we report the results of an experimental analysis of the degradation induced by ON-state stress in GaN-based Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs). When a high stress current is applied to the device, turn-ON voltage ( $V_{\mathrm{TON}}$ ), forward voltage ( $V_{F}$ ), and ON-resistance ( $R_{{{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}}})$ are affected by charge carrier trapping occurring at the AlGaN surface close to the anode corners and/or into the AlGaN barrier layer. We have investigated the degradation of SBDs under different stress conditions, analyzing the influence of temperature and voltage, investigating the activation energy of the traps, and hence the trapping mechanisms. In addition, thanks to this approach, the device lifetime has been evaluated, proving good device reliability.

Field plate engineering for GaN-based Schottky barrier diodes

The practical design of GaN-based Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) incorporating a field plate (FP) structure necessitates an understanding of their working mechanism and optimization criteria. In this work, the influences of the parameters of FPs upon breakdown of the diode are investigated in detail and the design rules of FP structures for GaN-based SBDs are presented for a wide scale of material and device parameters. By comparing three representative dielectric materials (SiO2, Si3N4 and Al2O3) selected for fabricating FPs, it is found that the product of dielectric permittivity and critical field strength of a dielectric material could be used as an index to predict its potential performance for FP applications.

Copper Oxide Edge-Termination for GaN Schottky Barrier Diodes with Low Turn-on Voltage

ABSTRACTIn this study, we propose copper oxide (CuOx) edge-termination for GaN-based Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with low turn-on voltage. CuOx fabricated by thermal oxidization of sputtered Cu film at 275°C consisted mainly of Cu2O which is known as a p-type semiconductor. We applied CuOx edge-termination to GaN SBDs with tantalum (Ta) Schottky electrode which has low work function of 4.25 eV. The experimental results of current-voltage characteristics insisted that CuOx edge-termination structure was effective to increase breakdown voltage of GaN SBDs with keeping low turn-on voltage of 0.29 V at 10 A/cm2.

Unlimited High Breakdown Voltage by Natural Super Junction of Polarized Semiconductor

A breakdown mechanism of polarized semiconductors represented by GaN-based materials is presented, based on the concept of a natural super junction, which is established by the inherent material polarization. In this concept, owing to the precise matching of positive and negative polarizations of both sides of GaN and AlGaN materials, average charge concentration in the material becomes nearly zero under reverse bias condition, which realizes extremely high breakdown voltage. This model is confirmed by device simulation taking all polarization charges of GaN-based materials into account. Furthermore, experimentally fabricated GaN-based Schottky barrier diodes showed a linear increase of breakdown voltage along the anode-cathode spacing, achieving a record breakdown voltage over 9000 V.

High quality GaN-based Schottky barrier diodes

We report the fabrication of GaN-based Schottky barrier diodes with multi-MgxNy/GaN buffer. Compared to conventional devices with a low-temperature GaN buffer, we achieved a six orders of magnitude smaller leakage current. It was also found that effective Schottky barrier height is larger for the proposed device due to the reduction in surface defect density by using the multi-MgxNy/GaN buffer.