Comprehensive Schottky Barrier Height Behavior and Reliability Instability with Ni/Au and Pt/Ti/Pt/Au on AlGaN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistors

The reliability instability of inhomogeneous Schottky contact behaviors of Ni/Au and Pt/Ti/Pt/Au gate contacts on AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) was investigated via off-state stress and temperature. Under the off-state stress condition, Pt/Ti/Pt/Au HEMT showed abruptly reduced reverse leakage current, which improved the Schottky barrier height (SBH) from 0.46 to 0.69 eV by suppression of the interfacial donor state. As the temperature increased, the reverse leakage current of the Pt/Ti/Pt/Au AlGaN/GaN HEMT at 308 K showed more reduction under the same off-state stress condition while that of the Ni/Au AlGaN/GaN HEMT increased. However, with temperatures exceeding 308 K under the same off-state stress conditions, the reverse leakage current of the Pt/Ti/Pt/Au AlGaN/GaN HEMT increases, which can be intensified using the inverse piezoelectric effect. Based on this phenomenon, the present work reveals the necessity for analyzing the concurrent SBH and reliability instability due to the interfacial trap states of the MS contacts.

Reduction of reverse leakage current at the TiO2/GaN interface in field plate Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky diodes

This paper presents the fabrication procedure of TiO2 passivated field plate Schottky diode and gives a comparison of Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky barrier diodes without field plate and with field plate of varying diameters from 50 to 300 µm. The influence of field oxide (TiO2) on the leakage current of Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky diode was investigated. This suggests that the TiO2 passivated structure reduces the reverse leakage current of Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky diode. Also, the reverse leakage current of Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky diodes decreases as the field plate length increases. The temperature-dependent electrical characteristics of TiO2 passivated field plate Ni/Au/n-GaN Schottky diodes have shown an increase of barrier height within the temperature range 300…475 K.