Showing papers by "Tetsu Kachi published in 2022"

Insight into interface electrical properties of metal–oxide–semiconductor structures fabricated on Mg-implanted GaN activated by ultra-high-pressure annealing

Abstract: GaN-based metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) devices, such as n- and p-type capacitors and inversion- and accumulation-type p-channel field effect transistors (MOSFETs), were fabricated by Mg-ion implantation and ultra-high-pressure annealing (UHPA) under 1-GPa nitrogen pressure. Even though UHPA was conducted at 1400 °C without protective layers on GaN surfaces, n-type MOS capacitors with SiO2 gate dielectrics formed on non-ion-implanted regions exhibited well-behaved capacitance–voltage characteristics with negligible hysteresis and frequency dispersion, indicating distinct impact of UHPA in suppressing surface degradation during high-temperature annealing. Efficient activation of the implanted Mg dopants and reasonable hole accumulation at the SiO2/GaN interfaces were also achieved for p-type capacitors by UHPA, but the fabricated inversion- and accumulation-type p-channel GaN MOSFETs were hardly turned on. The findings reveal extremely low hole mobility at GaN MOS interfaces and suggest an intrinsic obstacle for the development of GaN-based MOS devices.

Effects of Hydrogen Incorporation on Mg Diffusion in GaN‐Doped with Mg Ions via Ultra‐High‐Pressure Annealing

Abstract: Magnesium (Mg) diffusion in gallium nitride (GaN) is assessed using various Mg dosages and annealing durations at 1300 °C under nitrogen at 500 MPa. Low Mg dosages of 3 × 1013 cm−2 result in diffusion based on Fick's law and a diffusion coefficient of 1.36 × 10−14 cm2 s−1. Ambient hydrogen atoms are also introduced into the specimens during annealing. Hydrogen has a larger diffusion coefficient than Mg but the hydrogen concentration is limited by the surface Mg concentration. After hydrogen atoms reach the Mg diffusion front, they enhance Mg diffusion by forming the Mg–hydrogen complexes. The more rapid Mg diffusion at higher Mg dosages above 1014 cm−2 can be explained by diffusive species involving vacancies and hydrogen.

Process engineering of GaN power devices via selective-area p-type doping with ion implantation and ultra-high-pressure annealing

Abstract: P-type doping in selected areas of gallium nitride (GaN) using magnesium (Mg)-ion implantation and subsequent ultra-high-pressure annealing (UHPA) are investigated to improve the performance of vertical GaN power devices. UHPA allows a high-temperature process without decomposition of the GaN surface and virtually complete activation of the implanted Mg ions in GaN. In the present paper, we provide an overview of recent challenges in making UHPA more realistic as an industrial process. Instead of UHPA at more than 1400 °C for a short duration, prolonged UHPA at 1300 °C demonstrates a comparable acceptor activation of Mg-ion-implanted GaN. This can reduce the annealing pressure to approximately 300 MPa and enlarge the processable wafer diameter. The second challenge is controlling the doping profiles in the lateral and vertical directions. We demonstrate fine patterning of the p-type regions, which indicates the limited lateral diffusion of Mg through UHPA. However, controlling the vertical doping profile is challenging. The nitrogen vacancies formed by ion implantation reduce the effective acceptor concentration near the surface, which can be compensated for by sequential nitrogen ion implantation. Defect-assisted Mg diffusion to the deeper region causes a redistribution of the Mg atoms and should be considered in the design of a device. Such anisotropic diffusion of Mg to the c-axis has potential applications in the fabrication of unique vertical device structures such as super junctions.

Atomic-scale investigation of implanted Mg in GaN through ultra-high-pressure annealing

Abstract: An area selective doping via ion implantation is a key technology to realize gallium nitride (GaN) based energy-efficient power devices; however, conventional annealing leads to the formation of numerous Mg-enriched defects, which result in inefficient p-type activation. The recent invention of ultra-high-pressure annealing (UHPA) has enabled a significant improvement in p-type activation efficiency. In this study, we investigated the formation of Mg-enriched defects in Mg implanted GaN followed by annealing under either conventional atmospheric pressure or ultra-high-pressure. Unlike the conventional annealing, UHPA leads to a much lower number density of Mg-enriched defects. Correlative scanning transmission electron microscopy, atom probe tomography, cathodoluminescence, and secondary ion mass spectrometry analyses have shown that the number density of Mg-enriched defects is substantially suppressed by the UHPA. The dissolved Mg concentrations in the GaN matrix for both the conventional and the UHPA samples are almost of the same value, approximately 2 × 1018 cm−3; however, the UHPA sample shows over one order of magnitude stronger intensity of donor–acceptor-pair emission than the conventional one. Thus, the implanted Mg is effectively activated as acceptors through the UHPA technique.

Atomic resolution analysis of extended defects and Mg agglomeration in Mg-ion-implanted GaN and their impacts on acceptor formation

Abstract: We carried out atomic-scale observations of Mg-ion-implanted GaN by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom probe tomography (APT) to clarify the crystallographic structures of extended defects and Mg agglomerations that form during post-implantation annealing. The complementary TEM and APT analyses have shown that Mg atoms agglomerate at dislocations that bound extended defects. The concentration of Mg is higher at the dislocations with a larger Burgers vector. This indicates that Mg agglomeration is caused by the pressure at the dislocations. Mg concentration in highly Mg-rich regions is 1 at. %, which exceeds the solubility limit of Mg in GaN. We investigated isothermal and isochronal evolution of the defects by TEM, cathodoluminescence analysis, and positron annihilation spectroscopy. The results indicated that the intensity of donor–acceptor pair emission increases with the annealing temperature and duration and reaches a maximum after elimination of the extended defects with highly Mg-rich regions. These results strongly suggest that such extended defects reduce the acceptor formation and that they as well as the previously reported compensating centers, such as N-related vacancies, can inhibit the formation of p-type GaN. The mechanism by which the extended defects reduce acceptor formation is discussed.

Mg-implanted vertical GaN junction barrier Schottky rectifiers with low on resistance, low turn-on voltage, and nearly ideal nondestructive breakdown voltage

Abstract: Vertical GaN junction barrier Schottky (JBS) diodes with superior electrical characteristics and nondestructive breakdown were realized using selective-area p-type doping via Mg ion implantation and subsequent ultra-high-pressure annealing. Mg-ion implantation was performed into a 10 μm thick Si-doped GaN drift layer grown on a free-standing n-type GaN substrate. We fabricated the JBS diodes with different n-type GaN channel widths Ln = 1 and 1.5 μm. The JBS diodes, depending on Ln, exhibited on-resistance ( RON) between 0.57 and 0.67 mΩ cm2, which is a record low value for vertical GaN Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) and high breakdown (BV) between 660 and 675 V (84.4% of the ideal parallel plane BV). The obtained low RON of JBS diodes can be well explained in terms of the RON model, which includes n-type GaN channel resistance, spreading current effect, and substrate resistance. The reverse leakage current in JBS diodes was relatively low 103–104 times lower than in GaN SBDs. In addition, the JBS diode with lower Ln exhibited the leakage current significantly smaller (up to reverse bias 300 V) than in the JBS diode with large Ln, which was explained in terms of the reduced electric field near the Schottky interface. Furthermore, the JBS diodes showed a very high current density of 5.5 kA/cm2, a low turn-on voltage of 0.74 V, and no destruction against the rapid increase in the reverse current approximately by two orders of magnitude. This work demonstrated that GaN JBS diodes can be strong candidates for low loss power switching applications.

Relationship of carbon concentration and slow decays of photoluminescence in homoepitaxial n-type GaN layers

Abstract: In this study, we analyzed the slow decay in time-resolved photoluminescence (TR-PL) of n-type GaN homoepitaxial layers with carbon concentrations of (0.26–4.0) × 1016 cm−3. The relative signal intensities of the slow decays to the TR-PL signals at t = 0 s increased almost linearly with increased carbon concentration, suggesting that the carrier recombination process is subjected to the deep level formed by the carbon atoms in GaN. Slow decay curves were calculated based on the rate equations for trapping and emission at the deep level. The experimental carbon concentration dependence of the time constants and the relative signal intensities was reproduced by calculation. TR-PL is a technique used to estimate carbon concentrations in GaN homoepitaxial layers.

Effect of Ultra‐High‐Pressure Annealing on Defect Reactions in Ion‐Implanted GaN Studied by Positron Annihilation

Abstract: Herein, the annealing behaviors of defects in ion‐implanted GaN are studied by positron annihilation, cathodoluminescence, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and atom probe tomography. Si or Mg ions are implanted into GaN to obtain 300 nm deep box profiles of the impurities. The samples are annealed up to 1480 °C under a N2 pressure of 1 GPa. For as‐implanted GaN, the major defect species is identified as Ga‐vacancy‐type defects. After annealing above 1000 °C, vacancy clusters are introduced, and they remain even after 1480 °C annealing. For Mg‐implanted GaN with the Mg concentration ([Mg]) ≤ 1018 cm−3, no large change in the depth distribution of Mg is observed before and after annealing at 1400 °C. For the sample with [Mg] = 1019 cm−3, however, Mg diffuses into the bulk, which is attributed to the over‐doping of Mg and their vacancy‐assisted diffusion. The Mg diffusion is suppressed, and the donor–acceptor pair emission is enhanced by sequential N‐implantation, which is attributed to the reaction between Mg and vacancies under a N‐rich condition. For the samples annealed at 1480 °C, an accumulation of Mg around dislocation loops and Mg clustering are enhanced by the N‐implantation

Detection of defect levels in vicinity of Al2O3/p-type GaN interface using sub-bandgap-light-assisted capacitance–voltage method

Abstract: Defect levels in the vicinity of the Al2O3/p-type GaN interface were characterized using a sub-bandgap-light-assisted capacitance–voltage ( C–V) method. For metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) diodes prepared using p-type GaN (p-GaN) and Al2O3 formed by atomic layer deposition, the C–V curves measured in the dark showed capacitance saturation at a negative bias and a large negative voltage shift compared with ideal curves, which implied the effects of donor-like gap states in the vicinity of the Al2O3/p-GaN interface. Upon illumination with monochromated sub-bandgap light with photon energies higher than 2.0 eV under a large positive bias, the subsequently measured C–V curves showed three plateaus. The plateau under the positive bias voltage due to the surface inversion appeared despite the sub-bandgap illumination, which did not appear at 1.8 eV light illumination, indicating the existence of midgap defect levels. Moreover, the other plateaus were attributed to defect levels at 0.60 and 0.7–0.8 eV above the valence band maximum. For a sample whose surface was prepared by photo-electrochemical (PEC) etching to a depth of 16.5 nm, the C–V curve measured in the dark showed a reduced voltage shift compared with the unetched sample. Furthermore, sub-bandgap-light-assisted C–V curves of the sample with PEC etching showed no plateau at a positive bias, which indicated the reduction in the density of the midgap defect states. Possible origins of the detected defect levels are discussed. The obtained results showed that the interface control can improve the properties of p-GaN MOS structures.

Comparison of switching performance of high-speed GaN vertical MOSFETs with various gate structures based on TCAD simulation

Abstract: To evaluate the impact of gate structures on the switching performance (R on Q g) and cost (required chip size, proportional to R on A) of GaN vertical MOSFETs, we calculated the R on AR on Q g of trench-gate structures with and without a countermeasure to reduce the electric field applied to the gate insulator, as well as a planar structure with various cell pitches, channel mobilities, and blocking voltages. When the blocking voltage was 600 V, the planar-gate structure achieved the lowest R on AR on Q g owing to its low Q g/A, despite the high R on A. However, when the blocking voltage was 1800 V, a trench-gate structure without the countermeasure achieved the lowest R on AR on Q g owing to its low R on A and optimal cell pitch. The R on AR on Q g of a trench-gate structure with a countermeasure and planar-gate structure became close with increasing channel mobility. This indicates that high channel mobility is the most important factor, rather than the selection of the device structure.

Evidence of reduced interface states in Al2O3/AlGaN MIS structures via insertion of ex situ regrown AlGaN layer

Abstract: We report on the impact of the 3 nm thick ex situ AlGaN regrown layer prior to insulator deposition on the interfacial properties of Al2O3/AlGaN/GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) structures. MIS-capacitors (MIScaps) with regrown AlGaN layer exhibited anomalously excessive threshold voltage shift compared to reference sample without regrown AlGaN, suggesting highly reduced interface states density (D it). Moreover, MIScaps with regrown AlGaN layer exhibited “spill-over” in the capacitance–voltage profiles, further evidencing the improved Al2O3/AlGaN interfaces. Fabricated three-terminal MIS-HEMTs with regrown AlGaN showed less hysteresis in transfer curves, enhanced maximum drain current, and increased linearity over the reference device.