Polarization-induced Zener tunnel diodes in GaN/InGaN/GaN heterojunctions

Abstract

By the insertion of thin InxGa1−xN layers into Nitrogen-polar GaN p-n junctions, polarizationinduced Zener tunnel junctions are studied. The reverse-bias interband Zener tunneling current is found to be weakly temperature dependent, as opposed to the strongly temperature-dependent forward bias current. This indicates tunneling as the primary reverse-bias current transport mechanism. The Indium composition in the InGaN layer is systematically varied to demonstrate the increase in the interband tunneling current. Comparing the experimentally measured tunneling currents to a model helps identify the specific challenges in potentially taking such junctions towards nitride-based polarization-induced tunneling field-effect transistors.

Low Resistance Asymmetric III-Nitride Tunnel Junctions Designed by Machine Learning

“…The thickness of the inserted InGaN layer is set within 2-7 nm [10,27]. This thin InGaN layer could induce a larger polarization charge at the interface, where the smaller bandgap of the InGaN increased the tunneling probability [9][10][11]. We carried out the TCAD calculations using Silvaco Atlas, a two-dimensional (2D) device simulator by consistently solving Schrodinger-Poisson equations, and used a non-local band-to-band tunneling model to calculate the TJ resistance [28].…”

“…A significant polarization effect provides more space to manipulate the performance of TJs [5]. Recently, GaN/AlGaN/GaN [6,7], metal/InGaN/GaN [8], and GaN/InGaN/GaN [9][10][11] TJs were investigated and proven to lead to significant improvements in devices.…”

TFET‐based well capacity adjustment in active pixel sensor for enhanced high dynamic range

“…This flexibility comes from the ability to tune the band diagram via polarisation engineering of the heterointerfaces. Polarisation‐enhanced tunnelling has been experimentally demonstrated in GaN/InGaN/GaN and GaN/AlGaN/GaN tunnel junctions [5], proving the practical feasibility of this approach. In our case, the device has been tuned to sharpen the drain‐source asymmetry.…”

Performance projection of III‐nitride heterojunction nanowire tunneling field‐effect transistors

“…These polarization discontinuities and their associated sheet charges can lead to extremely large built‐in electric fields, and enable interband tunneling despite the large bandgaps typical of III‐nitride materials . Polarization‐enhanced tunneling has been experimentally demonstrated in GaN/InGaN/GaN and GaN/AlGaN/GaN tunnel junctions . This paper explores the device performance possible with III‐nitride TFETs in nanowire geometries through numerical simulation.…”