We carefully investigate three important effects including postgrowth activation annealing, delta (δ) dose and p+-GaN layer thickness and experimentally demonstrate their influence on the electrical properties of GaN p-n homojunction diodes with a tunnel junction (TJ)-based p-contact. The p-n diodes and TJ structures were monolithically grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) in a single growth step. By optimizing the annealing time and temperature for magnesium (Mg) activation and introducing δ-doses for both donors and acceptors at TJ interfaces, a significant improvement in electrical properties is achieved. For the continuously-grown, all-MOCVD GaN homojunction TJs, ultra-low forward voltage penalties of 158 mV and 490 mV are obtained at current densities of 20 A/cm2 and 100 A/cm2, respectively. The p-n diode with an engineered TJ shows a record-low normalized differential resistance of 1.6 x 10-4 Ω-cm2 at 5 kA/cm2.
Ammonia (NH3) is commonly used as group V precursor in gallium nitride (GaN) metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The high background carbon (C) impurity in MOCVD GaN is related to the low pyrolysis efficiency of NH3, which represents one of the fundamental challenges hindering the development of high purity thick GaN for vertical high power device applications. This work uses a laser-assisted MOCVD (LA-MOCVD) growth technique to address the high-C issue in MOCVD GaN. Carbon dioxide (CO2) laser with wavelength of 9.219 um was utilized to facilitate NH3 decomposition via resonant vib…
Predictive first-principles calculations suggest graphitic-like GaN to be theoretically possible. Thus far, it has not been experimentally reported. We report on GaN monolayer in a buckled geometry obtained in confinement at graphene/SiC interface by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) has been employed to probe vertical current injection through the graphene/SiC interface and to establish the uniformity of the intercalated areas. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM) has been employed for atomic resolution imaging and spectros…
High-Temperature Hydrogen Sensors Based on Gallium Oxide Heterojunction Diodes
Materials Science Center, National Laboratory of the Rockies（国家落基山实验室材料科学中心）；Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines（科罗拉多矿业学院冶金与材料工程系）
$β$-Ga${_2}$O${_3}$ based semiconductor devices are expected to have significantly improved high-power and high-temperature performance due to its ultra-wide bandgap of close to 5 eV. However, the high-temperature operation of these ultra-wide-bandgap devices is usually limited by the relatively low 1-2 eV built-in potential at the Schottky barrier with most high-work-function metals. Here, we report heterojunction p-NiO/n-$β$-Ga${_2}$O${_3}$ diodes fabrication and optimization for high-temperature device applications, demonstrating a current rectification ratio of more than 10${^6}$ at 410°C.…
The carrier emission efficiency of light emitting diodes is of fundamental importance for many technological applications, including the performance of GaN and other semiconductor photocathodes. We have measured the evolution of the emitted carriers and the associated transient electric field after femtosecond laser excitation of n-type GaN single crystals. These processes were studied using subpicosecond, ultrashort, electron pulses and explained by means of a three-layer analytical model. We find that for pump laser intensities on the order of 10^11 W/cm^2, the electrons that escaped from th…
III-nitride alloys are wide band gap semiconductors with a broad range of applications in optoelectronic devices such as light emitting diodes and laser diodes. Indium gallium nitride light emitting diodes have been successfully produced over the past decade. But the progress of green emission light emitting devices has been limited by the incorporation of indium in the alloy, mainly due to phase separation. This difficulty could be addressed by studying the growth and thermodynamics of these alloys. Knowledge of thermodynamic phase stabilities and of pressure - temperature - composition phase…
This work demonstrates the first nonpolar vertical GaN on GaN pn power diodes grown on m-plane free standing substrates by MOCVD. The SEM and HRXRD results showed the good crystal quality of the homoepitaxial nonpolar structure with low defect densities. The CL result confirmed the nonpolar p GaN was of high quality with considerably reduced deep level states. At forward bias, the device showed good rectifying behaviors with a turn-on voltage of 4.0 V, an on-resistance of 2.3 mohmcm2, and a high on off ratio of 1e10. At reverse bias, the current leakage and breakdown were described by the trap…
Controlled epitaxy of room-temperature quantum emitters in gallium nitride
School of Engineering, Cardiff University（卡迪夫大学工程学院）；Translational Research Hub（转化研究枢纽）；Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge（剑桥大学材料科学与工程系）
Several pn junctions were constructed from mechanically exfoliated ultrawide bandgap (UWBG) beta-phase gallium oxide (\b{eta}-Ga2O3) and p-type gallium nitride (GaN). The mechanical exfoliation process, which is described in detail, is similar to that of graphene and other 2D materials. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) scans of the exfoliated \b{eta}-Ga2O3 flakes show very smooth surfaces with average roughness of 0.647 nm and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) scans reveal flat, clean interfaces between the \b{eta}-Ga2O3 flakes and p-GaN. The device showed a rectification ratio around 541.3 …
Wide and ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors lie at the heart of next-generation high-power, high-frequency electronics. Here, we report the growth of ultrawide-bandgap boron nitride (BN) thin films on wide-bandgap gallium nitride (GaN) by pulsed laser deposition. Comprehensive spectroscopic (core level and valence band XPS, FTIR, Raman) and microscopic (AFM and STEM) characterizations confirm the growth of BN thin films on GaN. Optically, we observed that BN/GaN heterostructure is second-harmonic generation active. Moreover, we fabricated the BN/GaN heterostructure-based Schottky diode that demo…
Uncovering the properties of homo-epitaxial GaN devices through cross-sectional infrared nanoscopy
University of Iowa（爱荷华大学）；Technische Universität Dresden（德累斯顿工业大学）；Vanderbilt University（范德堡大学）；Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society（马克斯·普朗克学会弗里茨·哈伯研究所）；Freie Universität Berlin（柏林自由大学）；Italian Institute of Technology（意大利理工学院）；Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf（德累斯顿-罗斯多夫亥姆霍兹中心）；University of Florida（佛罗里达大学）；U.S. Naval Research Laboratory（美国海军研究实验室）
Numerous efforts have been devoted to improve the electronic and optical properties of III-V compound materials via reduction of their nonradiative states, aiming at highly-efficient III-V sub-micrometer devices. Despite many advances, there is still a controversial debate on which combination of chemical treatment and capping dielectric layer can best reproducibly protect the crystal surface of III-Vs, while being compatible with readily available plasma deposition methods. This work reports on a systematic experimental study on the role of sulfide ammonium chemical treatment followed by diel…
