No abstract

We investigated the structural behavior of the Ni/Au contact on GaN(0001) and found the catalytic role of Au during annealing, using in situ x-ray scattering. The oxidation kinetics of Ni during annealing in air was greatly affected by the presence of Au. The accelerated GaN decomposition and Ni nitride formation during annealing in N2 also provide evidence of the catalytic role of Au. The results suggest that oxidized Ni/Au ohmic contact exhibit better thermal stability than that of the N2 annealed Ni/Au contacts.

No abstract

We investigated the reaction chemistry of metal contacts to GaN during annealing using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). GaN decomposition was estimated, using XPS, to occur in N 2 annealed Ni-alloy contacts at 550 °C. The reaction was greatly accelerated by the catalytic effect of Au and Pt. The decomposition was correlated with the rapid degradation of electrical properties during annealing. The results suggest that high-temperature applications may be critically limited by the degradation of metal contacts especially due to activated Ni reactivity in Ni-alloyed contacts. Meanwhile, the thermal stability of Ni/Au contact greatly improves by suppressing the activated Ni reactivity, which is able to be obtained by forming preferential Ni -O bonding through annealing in air.