We investigated effects of electronic states at free surfaces of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) on the inner current transport at the heterointerfaces. The analysis on transient currents for the air-exposed and H2-plasma-treated devices showed that N-vacancy-related near-surface traps play an important role in current collapse in AlGaN/GaN HFETs. An Al2O3-based surface passivation scheme including an N2-plasma surface treatment was proposed and applied to an insulated-gate HFET. A large conduction-band offset of 2.1 eV was achieved at the Al2O3/Al0.3Ga0.7N interface. No current collapse was observed in the fabricated Al2O3 insulated-gate HFETs under both drain stress and gate stress.

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Suppression of current collapse in insulated gate AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors using ultrathin Al2O3 dielectric

Semiconductor Junction Gas Sensors

The influence of AlGaN and GaN cap layer thickness on Hall sheet carrier density and mobility was investigated for Al0.32Ga0.68N/GaN and GaN/Al0.32Ga0.68N/GaN heterostructures deposited on sapphire substrates. The sheet carrier density was found to increase and saturate with the AlGaN layer thickness, while for the GaN-capped structures it decreased and saturated with the GaN cap layer thickness. A relatively close fit was achieved between the measured data and two-dimensional electron gas densities predicted from simulations of the band diagrams. The simulations also indicated the presence of a two-dimensional hole gas at the upper interface of GaN/AlGaN/GaN structures with sufficiently thick GaN cap layers. A surface Fermi-level pinning position of 1.7 eV for AlGaN and 0.9–1.0 eV for GaN, and an interface polarization charge density of 1.6×1013–1.7×1013 cm−2, were extracted from the simulations.

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Polarization effects in AlGaN/GaN and GaN/AlGaN/GaN heterostructures

We have systematically investigated effects of plasma processing, formation of Si-based dielectrics, and formation of a thin Al2O3 film on the chemical and electronic properties of GaN and GaN/AlGaN heterostructure surfaces. The surface treatment in H2-plasma excited by electron-cyclotron-resonance (ECR) source, produced nitrogen-vacancy-related defect levels at GaN and AlGaN surfaces, while the ECR-N2-plasma treatment improved electronic properties of the surfaces. The deposition of a SiO2 film on GaN and AlGaN surfaces was found to induce high-density interface states, due to unexpected and uncontrollable oxidation reactions on the surfaces during the deposition process. In comparison, the SiNx/GaN passivation structure prepared by ECR-plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition showed good interface properties with the minimum Dit value of 1×1011 cm−2 eV−1. However, excess leakage currents governed by Fowler–Nordheim tunneling were observed in the SiNx/Al0.3Ga0.7N structure, due to a relatively small con...

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Surface passivation of GaN and GaN/AlGaN heterostructures by dielectric films and its application to insulated-gate heterostructure transistors

In order to clarify the mechanisms of drain current collapse and gate leakage currents in the AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field effect transistor (HFET), detailed electrical properties of the ungated portion and Schottky-gated portion of the device were investigated separately, using a gateless HFET structure and an AlGaN Schottky diode structure. The gateless device was subjected to plasma treatments and surface passivation processes including our novel Al2O3-based surface passivation. dc I–V curves of gateless HFETs were highly nonlinear due to virtual gating by surface states. After drain stress, air-exposed, H2 plasma-treated and SiO2-deposited gateless HFETs showed an initial large-amplitude exponential current transient followed by a subsequent smaller, slow, and highly nonexponential response. The former was explained by emission from deep donors at Ec−0.37 eV, and the latter by emission from surface states. Capture transients with stress-dependent capture barriers were also observed. An x-ray photoe...

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Mechanisms of current collapse and gate leakage currents in AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field effect transistors

Temperature T dependences of the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of Ni and Pt/n-GaN Schottky contacts were measured in detail, and the results were analyzed from various viewpoints Large deviations from the thermionic emission transport were observed in the I–V–T behavior with anomalously large reverse leakage currents Forward characteristics could be fitted into the classical thermionic-field emission (TFE)/field emission (FE) model However, an unusually high doping density had to be assumed, and the reverse characteristics were far away from measured data A new thin surface barrier (TSB) model was proposed in which the width of the Schottky barrier is reduced due to the presence of unintentional surface donors Analysis of TFE/TE process through the TSB region has led to sets of I–V–T curves that reproduce almost perfectly the observed forward and reverse I–V–T behavior with correct orders of magnitude of currents Deep donors related to nitrogen vacancy are suggested to be the origin of surface donors producing TSBs

Mechanism of anomalous current transport in n-type GaN Schottky contacts

Chemical and electrical properties of the surfaces of GaN and GaN/AlGaN heterostructures were systematically investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), capacitance–voltage, and current–voltage measurements. From in situ XPS study, relatively smaller band bending of 0.6 eV was seen at the GaN (2×2) surface grown by radio frequency-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on the metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy GaN template. After exposing the sample surface to air, strong band bending took place at the surface. The surface treatment in NH4OH solution and N2 plasma was found to reduce the surface Fermi level pinning. Surface passivation process of GaN utilizing SiNx film by electron-cyclotron-resonance assisted plasma chemical vapor deposition (ECR–CVD) achieved low interface state density, 2×1011cm−2 eV−1. No pronounced stress remained at the SiNx/GaN interface, which was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. The present NH4OH/ECR–N2 plasma treatment was also found to be effective in realizing well-ordered ...

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Chemistry and electrical properties of surfaces of GaN and GaN/AlGaN heterostructures

https://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/5599/1/ASS190%281-4%29.pdf

Mechanism of current leakage through metal/n-GaN interfaces

Chemical properties of Al0.17Ga0.83N surfaces exposed to air and treated in an NH4OH solution were systematically investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). An air-exposed sample showed highly nonstoichiometric surface which included a large amount of Ga and Al oxides. The angle-resolved XPS analysis revealed that the natural oxide layer possessed a complicated composition distribution in depth and that the Al-oxide component was dominant on the topmost layer. A drastic reduction of such Al-oxide component as well as Ga-related oxide was achieved after the treatment in an NH4OH solution at 50 °C for 10 min, resulting in a constant in-depth composition distribution. The NH4OH-based treatment was found to enhance the intensity of the E2 (high) Raman peak and to reduce the root-mean-square value of surface roughness.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization of AlGaN surfaces exposed to air and treated in NH4OH solution

Surface properties of GaN and Al 0.17 Ga 0.83 N materials grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) were systematically investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Air-exposed samples showed highly non-stoichiometric surfaces, which included a large amount of natural oxides. Deposition of Al on the air-exposed GaN surface caused interfacial reactions, resulting in the formation of oxide layers including Al 2 O 3 and Ga oxide at the interface. A natural oxide layer of AlGaN surface possessed a complicated composition distribution in depth where the Al-oxide component was dominant on the topmost layer. Such natural oxide layers were found to be removed from GaN and AlGaN surfaces after the treatment in an NH 4 OH solution at 50°C for 10 min, resulting in oxide-free and well-ordered surfaces.

Susumu Oyama

Papers

Mechanism of anomalous current transport in n-type GaN Schottky contacts

Chemistry and electrical properties of surfaces of GaN and GaN/AlGaN heterostructures

Mechanism of current leakage through metal/n-GaN interfaces

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization of AlGaN surfaces exposed to air and treated in NH4OH solution

Surface characterization of GaN and AlGaN layers grown by MOVPE