High Two-dimensional Electron Gas Research Articles

Wafer-scale N-polar GaN heterogeneous structure fabricated by surface active bonding and laser lift-off

N-polar Gallium nitride (GaN) technology is one of the most important technical routes for millimeter-wave devices. This paper introduces a new approach based on reverse epitaxial layer transfer technology to fabricate N-polar GaN materials. By combining low-damage surface-activated bonding and laser lift-off techniques, a wafer-scale N-polar GaN heterogeneous structure with low O impurities, high two-dimensional electron gas density, and high carrier mobility was obtained. The thin (∼2 nm) crystal bonding interlayer, coupled with the low thermal boundary resistance of only 6.8 m2K/G·W, provides evidence for the low interfacial damage caused by this approach. These results demonstrate its superiority as an attractive method for fabricating high-performance N-polar GaN millimeter-wave devices.

The Dynamic Modulation Doping Effect of Gas Molecules on an AlGaN/GaN Heterojunction Surface.

AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) are widely used in high-frequency and high-power applications owing to the high two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) concentration. However, the microscopic origin of the 2DEG remains unclear. This hinders the development of device fabrication technologies, such as threshold voltage modulation, current collapse suppression, and 2DEG concentration enhancement technologies, as well as AlGaN/GaN sensors with very high sensitivity to polar liquids. To clarify the 2DEG microscopic origin, we studied the effects of gas molecules on AlGaN/GaN surfaces through various experiments and first-principles calculations. The results indicated that the adsorption of gas molecules on the AlGaN/GaN surface is an important phenomenon, clarifying the microscopic origin of the 2DEG. This study elucidates the properties of AlGaN/GaN heterojunctions and promotes the development of new fabrication technologies for AlGaN/GaN devices.

Electron mobility enhancement by electric field engineering of AlN/GaN/AlN quantum-well HEMTs on single-crystal AlN substrates

To enhance the electron mobility in quantum-well high-electron-mobility transistors (QW HEMTs), we investigate the transport properties in AlN/GaN/AlN heterostructures on Al-polar single-crystal AlN substrates. Theoretical modeling combined with experiment shows that interface roughness scattering due to high electric field in the quantum well limits mobility. Increasing the width of the quantum well to its relaxed form reduces the internal electric field and scattering, resulting in a binary QW HEMT with a high two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density of 3.68×1013 cm–2, a mobility of 823 cm2/Vs, and a record-low room temperature (RT) sheet resistance of 206 Ω/□. Further reduction of the quantum well electric field yields a 2DEG density of 2.53×1013 cm–2 and RT mobility > 1000 cm2/V s. These findings will enable future developments in high-voltage and high-power microwave applications on the ultrawide bandgap AlN substrate platform.

A systematic study on the efficacy of low-temperature GaN regrown on p-GaN to suppress Mg out-diffusion

Embedding p-type gallium nitride (p-GaN) in AlxGa1-xN-based thin films has garnered significant interest as a versatile structure for bandgap engineering such as tunnel/super-junctions or current blocking/guiding functions in electronic devices. However, Mg, a p-GaN dopant, has an undesirable diffusive capacity into the nearby thin films at a high growth temperature (>1,000°C), resulting in structural challenges in device design. This study systematically investigated the low-temperature GaN (LT-GaN) layer regrown on p-GaN that suppresses Mg diffusion according to metal–organic chemical vapor deposition growth conditions. Prototype Al0.3Ga0.7N (40 nm)/GaN (140 nm) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) were regrown with LT-GaN on p-GaN (300 nm), and a high two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density of 3.13E12 cm−2 was achieved by inserting a 100-nm-thick LT-GaN layer grown at 750°C; in contrast, only 1.76E10 cm−2 2DEG density was obtained from Al0.3Ga0.7N/GaN HEMTs regrown directly on p-GaN (Mg: 4.0E19 cm−3). The fabricated Al0.3Ga0.7N/GaN HEMTs with 100-nm-thick LT-GaN demonstrated a high drain current density of 84.5 mA/mm with a low on-state resistance of 31 Ω·mm. The AlxGa1-xN/LT-GaN/p-GaN platform demonstrated here paves the way for various III-nitride-based structures with embedded p-GaN.

Crack-Free High-Composition (>35%) Thick-Barrier (>30 nm) AlGaN/AlN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistor on Sapphire with Low Sheet Resistance (<250 Ω/□)

In this article, a high-composition (>35%) thick-barrier (>30 nm) AlGaN/AlN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) structure grown on a sapphire substrate with ultra-low sheet resistivity (<250 Ω/□) is reported. The optimization of growth conditions, such as reduced deposition rate, and the thickness optimization of different epitaxial layers allowed us to deposit a crack-free high-composition and thick AlGaN barrier layer HEMT structure. A significantly high two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density of 1.46 × 1013 cm−2 with a room-temperature mobility of 1710 cm2/V·s was obtained via Hall measurement using the Van der Pauw method. These state-of-the-art results show great potential for high-power Ga-polar HEMT design on sapphire substrates.

Low damage atomic layer etching technology for gate recessed fabrication

In this work, the damage induced by etching to AlGaN surface employing atomic layer etching (ALE), which use Cl2 plasma and Ar plasma for etching and removal, compared with conventional etching method was investigated. The Hall-effect measurements indicate that a higher two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) concentration of 1.54 × 1013 cm−2 is achieved and an electron mobility of 1756 cm2/V is obtained on the ALE sample by reducing the bombardment of BCl2+ and BCl + on the surface. Simultaneously, the damage caused by ALE to the etching surface is lower than the conventional etching method according to Raman spectroscopy analyses and atomic force microscopy (AFM) scans. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectrum and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) measurements were further carried out to prove that ALE process results in a higher 2DEG concentration due to maintaining stable Al composition and inducing lower damage on the surface.

Metal-semiconductor direct-current triboelectric nanogenerator based on depletion mode u-GaN/AlGaN/AlN/GaN HEMT

The urgent need for renewable energy source has led to a significant interest in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) as a new energy technology. In contrast to traditional polymer TENGs, semiconductor direct-current TENGs are more suitable for miniaturization and integration with electronic devices. This study proposes a friction material made of depletion mode GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), which exhibit superior properties such as high two-dimensional electron gas concentration. By sliding a titanium sheet on a depletion mode GaN-based heterostructure, we have designed a metal-semiconductor direct-current triboelectric nanogenerator that achieved voltage up to 45.5 V and a peak power density of 2.32 W/m2. This generator can be used to supply DC power to 14 LEDs in series and drive a digital watch directly. In particular, the generation of direct current is predominantly influenced by the surface states of the undoped GaN cap that produce a large number of electrons and are associated with an additional electric field in the direction of the two-dimensional electron gas created in the u-GaN/AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure of depletion mode GaN-based HEMTs. This research not only introduces a nitride semiconductor material of GaN-based HEMTs for the metal-semiconductor interface friction in the DC TENGs but also elucidates the current generation mechanism of GaN-based HEMT TENGs.

A novel p-GaN HEMT with AlInN/AlN/GaN double heterostructure and InAlGaN back-barrier

In this paper, a novel p-type gallium nitride (p-GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) is proposed and investigated for high power electronics applications. In the proposed device, an AlInN/AlN/GaN double heterostructure has been used. In addition, InAlGaN back-barrier has also been employed to improve the DC performance of the device. The double AlInN/GaN heterostructures offer low resistance, resulting to a high two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density. As a result the current drive efficiency of the device is significantly improved. On the other hand, an inserted InAlGaN back-barrier confines the electrons in the channel which further enhances the performance of the device. To validate the simulation results, calibration of the device models has been performed with experimental results. Results show that the proposed device exhibits low on-resistance (Ron), high drain current (Ids) and high transconductance (gm) as compared to the state-of-the-art devices. Also, the processing steps have been proposed for the possible fabrication of the proposed device. Finally, the optimization of the device design parameter is performed to achieve the optimal device performance with respect to Ron.

Improvements of electrical and thermal characteristics for AlGaN/GaN HEMT grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate

AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) heterostructures are grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate and high-resistivity silicon (HR-Si) simultaneously to investigate the influence of substrate types on electrical and thermal characteristics. The AlGaN/GaN HEMT epitaxial structure grown on SOI achieved high electron mobility (1900 ± 19 cm2 (V s)−1) and high two-dimensional electron gas carrier concentration (9.1 ± 0.1 × 1012 cm−2). The GaN HEMT metal–insulator–semiconductor gate device fabricated on the structure grown on the SOI substrate exhibits higher saturation current and improved buffer breakdown voltage compared with devices fabricated on HR-Si substrate. In particular, SOI substrate helps to improve the thermal-sensitive strain of the GaN-based heterostructure and reduced defect density in the epitaxy, thereby improve the temperature-dependent on-resistance (R ON) and the dynamic R ON of the device.

Gate tunable Rashba spin-orbit coupling at CaZrO3/SrTiO3 heterointerface

High mobility quasi two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) found at the CaZrO3/SrTiO3 nonpolar heterointerface is attractive and provides a platform for the development of functional devices and nanoelectronics. Here we report that the carrier density and mobility at low temperature can be tuned by gate voltage at the CaZrO3/SrTiO3 interface. Furthermore, the magnitude of Rashba spin–orbit interaction can be modulated and increases with the gate voltage. Remarkably, the diffusion constant and the spin–orbit relaxation time can be strongly tuned by gate voltage. The diffusion constant increases by a factor of ∼ 19.98 and the relaxation time is reduced by a factor of over three orders of magnitude while the gate voltage is swept from –50 V to 100 V. These findings not only lay a foundation for further understanding the underlying mechanism of Rashba spin–orbit coupling, but also have great significance in developing various oxide functional devices.

Lattice-matched AlInN/GaN multi-channel heterostructure and HEMTs with low on-resistance

In this paper, a high-performance multi-channel heterostructure based on lattice-matched AlInN/GaN has been reported. The stacking of five heterostructures yields a high two-dimensional electron gas density of 3.67 × 1013 cm−2 and a small sheet resistance (RSH) of 74.5 Ω/sq. Compared with the AlGaN/GaN sample with the same number of heterojunctions, the AlInN/GaN sample reduces the RSH by 51.2%. Since the AlInN barrier and GaN channel are lattice-matched, the strain defects caused by piezoelectric strain can be alleviated. The high-resolution x-ray diffraction results show that the total dislocation density in AlInN/GaN multi-channels is reduced by 18.9%. The calculation models of multiple-channel heterostructures are obtained to investigate the electron population and energy band diagram, and the calculated results are roughly consistent with the experimental results. With a gate–drain spacing of 11.5 μm, the on-resistance (RON) of the AlInN/GaN multi-channel HEMT was only 2.26 Ω mm, indicating that the lattice-matched multi-channel AlInN/GaN heterostructure can substantially enhance the current drive efficiency and improve the output performance of the devices.

Multiperiodic Spin Precession of the Optically Induced Spin Polarization in $${\hbox {Al}}_{x}{\hbox {Ga}}_{1-x}{\hbox {As/AlAs}}$$ Single Quantum Well

We employed the reflective probing of linearly polarized light to explore the dependence of electron spin dynamics, in a high mobility dense two-dimensional electron gas, on the external magnetic field, excitation power and sample temperature using the time-resolved Kerr rotation. Owing to the complex layered structure, the dynamics of spin polarization in the studied sample enclosed information about the spin signal corresponding to the different populations of electrons. Fit to the data revealed multiperiodic spin precession, with distinct g-factors that modulate the decay of the TRKR envelope. Additionally, the spin precession in our structure was seen to be thermally robust, persisting up to 250 K. The dynamics of optically induced spins, from different electron populations, was monitored as a function of different experimental parameters.

Characteristics of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor temperature sensor

Semiconductor temperature sensors have been widely used in medical, industrial, aviation and civil fields due to their advantages such as high sensitivity, small size, low power consumption and strong anti-interference ability. However, most Si-based temperature sensors are not suitable for the application in high-temperature environments. The new AlGaN/GaN heterojunction material not only has a wide band gap, but also has a high two-dimensional electron gas concentration and carrier mobility. Therefore, the device made with it not only has good electrical properties, but also can be applied in ultra-high environments. In this paper, a temperature sensor based on gateless AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor structure was fabricated and its temperature-dependent electrical properties were characterized. The temperature dependence of current-voltage characteristics of the device were tested from 50 to 400 °C. The sensitivity of the device was studied as a function of the channel aspect ratio of the device. The stability of electrical properties was characterized after heating in air and nitrogen at 300—500 °C for 1 hour. The theoretical and experimental results show that as the aspect ratio of the device increases, the sensitivity of the device increases. At a fixed current of 0.01 A, the average sensitivity of the device voltage with temperature changes is 44.5 mV/°C. Meanwhile, the good high temperature retention stability is shown during stability experiments.

Dramatically improved electron transport performance by a deep triangular potential well in organic field-effect transistors

Overcoming the intrinsic properties of organic molecules to achieve high device performance, particularly for electron transport, is a challenge in the field of organic semiconductor device physics. Energy-band engineering in modern inorganic electronics has been introduced in organic electronics. Here, we utilized Al2O3 and PbO metal-oxide layers as dielectric modification layers and fabricated high-quality organic heterojunction films with large band bending and sharp interfaces. The large band bending indicated a deeper triangular potential well, which can confine more electrons and form a high carrier density organic two-dimensional electron gas. A sharp heterojunction interface can reduce interface carrier transport scattering and crystal lattice defects and can retain uniform interfacial electronic structures. These two features of organic heterojunctions are the key factors to realize energy-band engineering in organic electronics. By using these heterojunction films as active layers in organic field-effect transistors, the transistors exhibited a high electron mobility of approximately 8 cm2 V−1 s−1. Therefore, we demonstrated the feasibility and solutions of energy-band engineering in organic electronics, and provided a novel strategy to improve device performance.

Partial carrier freeze-out at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 oxide interface

High quality robust two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) interfaces are produced using pulsed laser deposition and an acid-free substrate Ti-termination process, resulting in single unit cell terraces. Temperature dependent resistance measurements show two hysteresis anomalies around 80 K and 160 K. By using Hall measurements, we find an Arrhenius dependence in charge carrier density describing a partial carrier freeze-out below ∼80 K. We show that these two resistance anomalies are unrelated to the temperature dependence of the charge carrier density despite the tempting coincidence of the low temperature hysteresis feature and the freeze-out process. A two-carrier model is required to accurately estimate the activation energy of the thermally activated type charge carriers, which are found to be ∼5 to 7 meV. These results support the theory that oxygen vacancy defects contribute to the metallic conductivity at the 2DEG LAO/STO interface even for annealed samples.

Structural and electrical properties of AlN thin films on GaN substrates grown by plasma enhanced-Atomic Layer Deposition

Aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films have been deposited by Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PE-ALD) onto GaN-Sapphire substrates. The morphological, structural and electrical properties of AlN films with different thickness (from 5 to 15 nm) have been investigated. They uniformly cover the underlying GaN substrate without pinholes and cracks. All the AlN thin films show c-axis orientation and their in-plane crystalline arrangement perfectly matches the hexagonal structure of GaN substrate. In particular, the cross-sectional TEM analysis demonstrated that the first AlN layers are well aligned with respect to the GaN (0001) substrate, while stacking faults formation is observed in the upper part of the films. Finally, electrical measurements by Hg-probe on as-deposited AlN showed very low current leakage across these layers and the presence of a high density two-dimensional electron gas (>2 × 1013 cm−2) at the AlN/GaN interface.

Two-dimensional electron gas at manganite buffered LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (001) interface by spin coating chemical methods

High mobility spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is crucially important for spintronic applications. Here, we report our investigations on the 2DEG fabricated by spin coating a LaAlO3 layer on a (001) SrTiO3 substrate with a La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 buffer layer. When the buffer layer is below 3 uc, the 2DGE is highly mobile. Corresponding to the layer thicknesses of 0, 1, and 2 uc, the Hall mobilities are ∼24 000 cm2/V s, ∼28 000 cm2/V s, and ∼59 600 cm2/V s at 2 K. In contrast, the 2DEG with a buffer layer of 3 uc shows a relatively low mobility (∼3000 cm2/V s). However, an anomalous Hall effect was observed in this 2DEG below 20 K, indicating a long range ferromagnetic order. This work demonstrates the great potential of the chemical method in gaining high quality spin-polarized 2DEGs at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface.

Scatterings and Quantum Effects in (Al,In)N/GaN Heterostructures for High-Power and High-Frequency Electronics

We provide the first observation of weak localization in high carrier density two-dimensional electron gas in AlInN/GaN heterostructures; at low temperatures and low fields the conductivity increases with increasing magnetic field. Weak localization is further confirmed by the lnT dependence of the zero-field conductivity and angle dependence of magnetoresistance. The inelastic scattering rate is linearly proportional to temperature, demonstrating that electron-electron scattering is the principal phase breaking mechanism. Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations at high magnetic fields are also observed. From the temperature dependent amplitude of SdH oscillation and Dingle plot, the effective mass of electron is extracted to be 0.2327me; in addition the quantum lifetime is smaller than transport time from Hall measurement, indicating small angle scattering such as from remote ionized impurities is dominant. Above 20 K, the scattering changes from acoustic phonon to optical phonon scattering, resulting in a rapid decrease in carrier mobility with increasing temperature.

Investigation of high density two-dimensional electron gas in Zn-polar BeMgZnO/ZnO heterostructures

Zn-polar BeMgZnO/ZnO heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy on high resistivity GaN templates producing high-density two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) are investigated. This is motivated by the need to reach plasmon-longitudinal optical (LO) phonon resonance for attaining minimum LO phonon lifetime. Achievement of high 2DEG concentration in MgZnO/ZnO heterostructures requires growth of the MgZnO barrier at relatively low temperatures, which compromises the ternary quality that in turn hinders potential field effect transistor performance. When this ternary is alloyed further with BeO, the sign of strain in the BeMgZnO barrier on ZnO switches from compressive to tensile, making the piezoelectric and spontaneous polarizations to be additive in the BeMgZnO/ZnO heterostructures much like the Ga-polar AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. As a result, a 2DEG concentration of 1.2 × 1013 cm−2 is achieved in the Be0.03Mg0.41Zn0.56O/ZnO heterostructure. For comparison, a 2DEG concentration of 7.7 × 1012 cm−2 requires 2% Be and 26% Mg in the barrier, whereas the same in the MgZnO/ZnO system would require incorporation of more than 40% Mg into the barrier, which necessitates very low growth temperatures. Our results are consistent with the demands on achieving short LO phonon lifetimes through plasmon-LO phonon resonance for high carrier velocity.

Electrical properties of GaN-based heterostructures adopting InAlN/AlGaN bilayer barriers

Electrical properties of GaN-based heterostructures adopting InAlN/AlGaN bilayer barriers are investigated by Hall-effect and current–voltage measurements. It is found that this structure possesses both merits of high two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density and low gate leakage current density, while maintaining high 2DEG mobility. Furthermore, temperature dependence of the 2DEG density in this structure is verified to follow a combined tendency of InAlN/GaN (increase) and AlGaN/GaN (decrease) heterostructures with increasing temperature from 90K to 400K, which is mainly caused by superposition of the effects from carrier thermal activation induced by extrinsic factors in InAlN layer and the reduced conduction-band discontinuity.