I fl Influence of f AlN Interlayer I t l y on the th Anisotropic A i t pi Electron El t Mobility and the Device Characteristics of N-polar N polar AlGaN/GaN MIS

MIS-HEMTs HEMTs Grown on Vicinal Substrates

S S.
a

a Kolluri ,

S S.

a Keller ,

D D.

a Brown ,

S S.

b Rajan ,

G G.

c Gupta

and U. U K. K

a Mishra

ECE Department Department, University of California California, Santa Barbara Barbara, b ECE Department Department, Ohio State University University, c Department of Electrical Engineering, Engineering IIT Kanpur, Kanpur India
Gallium Nitride offers outstanding properties making it ideal for high-frequency g q y high-power g p applications. pp
Semiconductor (Commonly Used Compounds) Characteristic Bandgap Electron mobility at 300K Saturated (p (peak) ) electron velocity Critical breakdown field Unit eV cm2/Vs x107 cm/s MV/cm Silicon 1.1 1500 1.0 (1.0) 0.3 Gallium A Arsenide id (AlG A / (AlGaAs InGaAs) 1.42 8500 1.3 (2.1) 0.4 Indium Ph Phosphide hid (I AlA / (InAlAs InGaAs) 1.35 5400 1.0 (2.3) 0.5 Gallium Nit id Nitride (G N / (GaN AlGaN) 3.49 1000 2000 1.3 (2.1) 3.0

Advantages of N-polar GaN

Low Ohmic Contact Resistance Natural Back Barrier

N face N-face
Silicon Sili Carbide 3.26 700 2.0 (2.0) 3.0

EC

VP
Contacting C t ti the th 2DEG through th h G N (l GaN (lower band-gap) b d )i instead t d of f AlG N AlGaN
9Achieved A hi d RC = 80 -m by b implantation (Recht. R ht et. t al l)

EF GaN AlGaN

InN based re re-grown grown contacts feasible. feasible

Better electron confinement during d i pinch-off i h ff l larger Rout EnhancementEnhancement -mode Devices
2DEG
A AlGaN N

Gallium Nitride power amplifiers can deliver an order of magnitude higher power than available from the current technology in other material systems systems.
In addition to these properties properties, the Nitride system has very high spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization. polarization Thi unique This i property, t t together th with ith th the ability bilit t to engineer i and d process materials at the nanometer scale, allows us to create high-performance microwave devices beyond the current state of art.

9Achieved RC = 27 -m m by InGaN/InN regrowth (Nidhi. Nidhi et. et al)

AlGaN GaN GaN

AlGaN GaN GaN

Source

------

AlGaN GaN AlGaN Ga GaN

Gate

Drain

------

No Charge under the gate at zero bias, positive bias induces charge Charge present even with no bias under S/D access regions for low on resistance

Substrate Mis-orientation

N-polar N polar GaN HEMTs Grown By MOCVD on Sapphire Substrates Scattering Mechanisms Devices Under Study: Structure and Band Diagrams
Al0 Ga a0.7N 0.3

AlxGa A a1-xN: Si

GaN Buffe G er

Al0.6G Ga0.4N

Al0.3 Ga0.7N 3

Al0..6Ga0.4N

Ga aN: S Si

Ga aN Bu uffer

GaN N: Si

EC

EC

AlxGa1-xN: Si S

3
UID GaN U G

Ene ergy y [eV V]

EF
UID Ga aN

-1 -2 -3 EV 0

Multi-atomic M lti t i steps t i th in the epi-structure i t t caused d by b the th substrate b t t mis-orientation i i t ti

(Keller et et. al, al JAP JAP, 103 103, 033708)

-2 2 EV -4
Important scattering mechanisms in N-polar AlGaN/GaN HEMTs (Brown et. al, APL, 93, 042104)

AlN Inter rlaye er

EF

EC

En nerg gy [eV V]

EC EF

EF

EV

EV

-4 50 100 D h [nm] Depth [ ] 150 200

50

Transport T t properties ti are anisotropic p !

Reduction of hexagonal hillock density with increasing substrate (Sapphire) mis-orientation mis orientation (Keller et. al, JAP, 108, 083546)

100 Depth p [nm] [ ]

150

200

AlN interlayer reduces alloy scattering and improves electron l t mobility bilit i in 2DEG

Band diagram of the device without the AlN interlayer

Band diagram of the device with the AlN interlayer

Epi-structure: E i t t 2 devices d i were f b i t d with fabricated ith and d w/o / th the interlayer i t l

Sh hee et R Resista anc ce [ / ]

800 700 600 500 400

N I No Interlayer t l

0 7 nm AlN I 0.7 Interlayer t l

RHall RTLM-// RTLM-

D i M Device Measurements t and d Analysis A ly i

40 4.0 3.5 On nR Resis stan nce e [-mm m] 30 3.0 2.5 20 2.0 1.5 10 1.0 Conduction // To Steps C d ti T Conduction To Steps St

12 1.2
Conduction // To Steps Conduction To Steps On C O Cur rren nt [A A/m mm]
Pin nch-off f Vo olta age [V] ]

8 Conduction // To Steps Conduction To Steps 6

Mo obility [cm m /V Vs]

1500

Hall TLM-// TLM-

10 1.0

1200

900
No Interlayer 0.7 nm AlN Interlayer

0.8
VGS = 1 V

ns [x x10 0 cm c ]

-2 -

1.0

nSHall

No Interlayer y

0.7 nm AlN Interlayer y

0.6

0.8
No Interlayer N I t l 0.7 Interlayer 0 7 nm AlN I t l

N Interlayer No I t l

0 7 nm AlN Interlayer 0.7 I t l

2 No Interlayer 0.7 nm AlN Interlayer

13

On-Resistance O R i t of f th the d devices i (S (Source Drain D i spacing i = 3.2 3 2 um, Gate G t Bias Bi = 0V)

On-Current of the devices (Gate length m, Gate Bias = 1 V) ( g = 0.7 )

Pinch off Voltage of the devices Pinch-off

Carrier C i D Density, it M Mobility bilit and d Sh Sheet tR Resistance i t values l bt i d from f H ll and d TLM measurements. t obtained Hall

AlN interlayer improves both sheet i density d it and d mobility bilit carrier

AlN i interlayer t l improves i the th on-resistance i t of f the devices in both directions Devices with conduction parallel to the steps have lower on-resistance on resistance

AlN interlayer i t l improves i the th on-currents t of f the th devices in both directions Devices with conduction parallel to the steps h hi h on-currents t have higher

AlN interlayer does not alter the pinch pinch-off off voltage lt significantly i ifi tl Devices with conduction parallel to the steps have higher pinch-off voltages

Mobility Degradation with Reverse Gate Bias

100000 N No I InterLayer t L No InterLayer // 0 0.7nm 7nm AlN InterLayer 0.7nm AlN InterLayer y //
1500
No InterLayer No InterLayer y // AlN InterLayer AlN InterLayer //

C Conclusions l i 9 AlN interlayer improves both electron mobility and 2DEG sheet charge density in N N-polar polar AlGaN /GaN HEMTs 9 Orienting devices such that the conduction is parallel to the multi multiatomic steps is beneficial for better electronic l t i transport t p t and d device d i performance 9 2DEG mobility bility degradation d g d ti with ith increasing reverse gate bias has been studied in both directions
Acknowledgements: This work was partially funded by ONR MINE program

Sh hee et Re esis stan nce [/ ]

Mobility [cm m /V Vs]

10000
Constant Mobility Curves

Mobility y degradation g in perpendicular direction is higher probably because higher, of interface roughness scattering. tt i

1000

500

Interlayer improves mobility but its influence mobility, in mitigating the mobility d degradation d ti with ith gate t electric field is not significant.
4 5 6
2

1000
0 0 1 2 3 7 8

5
2

Sheet Charge Density [xE12/cm ]

Sheet Charge Density [xE12/cm ]

Dependence of sheet resistance on the sheet charge density [log [log- scale], scale] obtained using gated TLM measurements

Dependence D d of f mobility bilit on th the sheet h t charge h d density it [log[l scale], l ] obtained bt i d using i gated t d TLM & CV measurements t