Papers by Author: Ferdinando Iucolano

Abstract: Gallium nitride (GaN) and related alloys (AlxGa1-xN) are promising semiconductors for high-frequency and high-power devices applications. In particular, the growth of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures on SiC substrates, due to the high thermal conductivity of SiC, can lead to significant improvement in the device performances. An important issue in the fabrication of AlGaN/GaN devices is the influence of the required thermal budget (700-900°C) on the properties of Ohmic contacts and device isolation. In this work, the influence of thermal annealing on the fabrication of AlGaN/GaN devices was studied. Ti/Al/Ni/Au multilayers led to an Ohmic behavior with a specific resistance c in the 10-5 cm2 range upon annealing between 750°C and 850°C. The electrical behavior of Ohmic contacts was correlated with the evolution of the formed phases and with the temperature behavior of c. The stability of the inter-device isolation obtained by nitrogen-implantation during annealing at these temperatures was also monitored.

Abstract: The recent improvement of GaN material quality launched new perspective for its application in power devices. However, ion-implanted guard-ring edge terminations, necessary to improve the breakdown voltage, are not well developed as in SiC technology. Indeed, the effects of high-temperature annealing, required for the electrical activation of the implanted species in GaN, on the electrical behaviour of Schottky contact was not reported. In this work, the influence of high temperature annealing (1150-1200°C) on the surface morphology of GaN and on the electrical behaviour of Schottky contact was studied. Although the morphology of GaN surface did not substantially change after annealing, a worsening of the electrical behaviour of Schottky contact was observed. This latter was ascribed to the formation of a high density of interface states after annealing.

Abstract: In this work, the structural and electrical properties of Ti/Al/Ni/Au contacts on n-type Gallium Nitride were studied. An ohmic behaviour was observed after annealing above 700°C. The structural analysis showed the formation of an interfacial TiN layer and different phases in the reacted layer (AlNi, AlAu4, Al2Au) upon annealing. The temperature dependence of the specific contact resistance demonstrated that the current transport occurs through thermoionic field emission in the contacts annealed at 600°C, and field emission after annealing at higher temperatures. By fitting the data with theoretical models, a reduction of the Schottky barrier from 1.21eV after annealing at 600°C to 0.81eV at 800°C was demonstrated, together with a strong increase of the carrier concentration at the interface. The reduction of the contact resistance upon annealing was discussed by correlating the structural and electrical characteristics of the contacts.