Investigation of structural, optical, and electrical characteristics of an AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor structure across a 200 mm Si(1 1 1) substrate

Abstract

An AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structure is grown on a 200 mm Si(1 1 1) substrate. The AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure atop, which forms the 2D electron gas, is studied via transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning tunneling microscopy, and TEM chemical analysis. To quantify the uniformity of structural, optical, and electrical properties of these AlGaN/GaN HEMT structures, scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, atomic-force microscopy, x-ray diffraction (ω/2θ scan and reciprocal space mapping) and Hall effect measurements are employed across the center, middle, and edge of the 200 mm wafer. Small thickness (<3%) and Al-content (<3%) variations in (Al)GaN layers across the wafer are recorded whereas a considerable change (28%) in the electron mobility is observed across the wafer that correlates with variations in surface roughness, defectivity, and layer stress. We attribute the higher mobility in the middle of the wafer to lower interface scattering, thanks to lower surface roughness and less edge-type dislocation density. Additionally, argon (Ar) ion implantation is used as a means for planar electrical isolation, and a seven orders of magnitude decrease in leakage current is achieved when an optimum Ar dose of 10 13 cm −2 is used. The feasibility of scaling AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on a 200 mm Si(1 1 1) platform is discussed.

Strain Analysis of GaN HEMTs on (111) Silicon with Two Transitional AlxGa1−xN Layers

“…The FWHM value for the GaN layer measured across the (102) GaN reflection is 0.2533°. Our (002) direction XRD result is better than the reported 0.294° and 0.2° in References [ 18 , 19 ], and close to the reported 0.122° and 0.132° in References [ 12 , 22 ]. Moreover, our (102) GaN direction XRD result is also comparable to the reported 0.24° in Reference [ 19 ].…”

“…Among these methods, the graded Al x Ga 1−x N method is very popular due to its easiness to achieve and analyze the strains in each layer. In detail, for the graded Al x Ga 1−x N buffer layers, a large number (>4) of Al x Ga 1−x N layers [ 21 ] and different Al compositions (from 0.75 to 0.25) have been reported [ 22 ]. However, the growth procedures are quite time-consuming, leading to a high manufacturing cost [ 12 ].…”

Epitaxial Growth of GaN Core and InGaN/GaN Multiple Quantum Well Core/Shell Nanowires on a Thermally Conductive Beryllium Oxide Substrate

“…GaN is known to exhibit superior characteristics such as small Auger effects, 1 high radiative recombination rate, 2 high electron mobility, 3 biocompatibility, 4 and a tunable band gap from near-infrared (InN = 0.7 eV) to deep ultraviolet (AlN = 6.12 eV) by alloying it with indium and aluminum, respectively. 5 , 6 Such unprecedented characteristics make GaN a promising material for electrical and optical applications such as high electron mobility transistors, 7 light-emitting diodes (LEDs), 8 photodetectors (PDs), 9 photoanodes, 10 − 12 and piezoelectric nanogenerators. 13 , 14 Conventionally, GaN is grown on a sapphire substrate, which is a thermal and electrical insulator.…”

“…GaN is known to exhibit superior characteristics such as small Auger effects, high radiative recombination rate, high electron mobility, biocompatibility, and a tunable band gap from near-infrared (InN = 0.7 eV) to deep ultraviolet (AlN = 6.12 eV) by alloying it with indium and aluminum, respectively. , Such unprecedented characteristics make GaN a promising material for electrical and optical applications such as high electron mobility transistors, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), photodetectors (PDs), photoanodes, − and piezoelectric nanogenerators. , Conventionally, GaN is grown on a sapphire substrate, which is a thermal and electrical insulator. Such properties hinder sapphire to become the most promising candidate to be used for a high-power device because an extra arrangement would be needed to manage the heat dissipation from the device. − Therefore, a substrate with high thermal conductivity and high electrical resistance is essential to fabricate efficient high-power devices.…”

Investigation of annealed, thin(∼2.6 nm)-Al2O3/AlGaN/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor heterostructures on Si(111) via capacitance-voltage and current-voltage studies

“…1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 Introduction AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology is the backbone of nextgeneration high power and frequency electronics thanks to the high thermal and chemical stability and high critical electric fields of III-nitrides [1]. Emerging GaN-on-Si (111) technology platform further promises high volume scalability of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs at low cost [2,3].…”