Hydrogenation effects during high-density plasma processing of GaAs MESFETS

Abstract

GaAs MESFETs may be exposed to H 2 -containing plasmas during various etch and deposition steps. We have found that both inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) H 2 plasmas create severe reductions in MESFET mutual transconductance (g m ) and reverse breakdown voltage (V RB ) through reductions in channel layer doping and surface stoichiometry changes. While changes in channel sheet resistance and diode ideality factor may be minimized by limiting the plasma exposure time, g m and V RB are still reduced by up to a factor of two even for 30 s exposures. The results show that there are no conditions under which there are not substantial changes in device performance, and unless H 2 -free plasma chemistries are used, post-plasma annealing will always be necessary to restore the device characteristics.

Low Temperature Silicon Nitride and Silicon Dioxide Film Processing by Inductively Coupled Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition

“…There is a growing interest in high-density plasma processing in both the semiconductor and the magnetic thin film head industry. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] In particular, much research has been conducted on dry etching with inductively coupled plasma (ICP) sources because they provides advanced processes for pattern transfer. [8][9][10] A great deal of research has been reported for dielectric film deposition using remote or high-density plasmas.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] In particular, much research has been conducted on dry etching with inductively coupled plasma (ICP) sources because they provides advanced processes for pattern transfer. [8][9][10] A great deal of research has been reported for dielectric film deposition using remote or high-density plasmas. [11][12][13][14] However, relatively little work has been done on deposition technology for dielectric materials using ICP.…”

Interface-controlled Au/GaAs Schottky contact with surface sulfidation and interfacial hydrogenation

“…When hydrogen passivates electrically active defects in GaAs substrate, dopant concentration in the GaAs and reverse leakage current in the diode should be reduced. 15 The effective dopant profiles of the samples were derived from the dependency of capacitance on reverse bias as in Fig. 2.…”

“…Indeed the effect of kinetic energy of H in the plasma treatment on GaAs surface has been recently reported. 15,23 A carefully controlled electron cyclotron resonance H-plasma enables to produce a cleaned and ordered GaAs surface with no excess Ga or As, due to its very low ion energy. Furthermore H-plasma treatment with low energy was revealed to improve the property of GaAs device.…”

Etching Damage in Diamond Studied Using an Energy-Controlled Oxygen Ion Beam

“…There have been many reports on the influence of etching damage on device performance in other semiconductors. [4][5][6][7] On the other hand, for diamond, the study of etching damage has not been given importance so far. Indeed, very few studies concerning the degradation of device performance are found.…”