Chang-Cheng Chuo

Comparison of GaN p-i-n and Schottky rectifier performance

The performance of GaN p-i-n and Schottky rectifiers fabricated on the same wafer was investigated as a function of device size and operating temperature. There was a significant difference in reverse breakdown voltage (490 V for p-i-n diodes; 347 V for the Schottky diodes) and forward turn-on voltage (/spl sim/5 V for the p-i-n diodes; /spl sim/3.5 V for the Schottky diodes). Both types of device showed a negative temperature coefficient for reverse breakdown, with value -0.34/spl plusmn/0.05 V/spl middot/K/sup -1/.

Gd2O3/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor

Gd2O3 has been deposited epitaxially on GaN using elemental Gd and an electron cyclotron resonance oxygen plasma in a gas-source molecular beam epitaxy system. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy shows a high concentration of dislocations which arise from the large lattice mismatch between the two materials. GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) fabricated using a dielectric stack of single crystal Gd2O3 and amorphous SiO2 show modulation at gate voltages up to 7 V and are operational at source drain voltages up to 80 V. This work represents demonstrations of single crystal growth of Gd2O3 on GaN and of a GaN MOSFET using Gd2O3 in the gate dielectric.

Structure and formation mechanism of V defects in multiple InGaN/GaN quantum well layers

A variety of different transmission electron microscopy techniques, and particularly high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy, has been used to reveal that V defects or inverted hexagonal pyramid defects in multiple InGaN∕GaN quantum well (QW) layers nucleate on threading dislocations that cross the InGaN QW. The defects have thin walls lying parallel to {101¯1} with the InGaN∕GaN QW structure. A formation mechanism for the V defects is proposed taking into account the growth kinetics of GaN and the segregation of In atoms in the strain field around the cores of the threading dislocations.

High voltage GaN Schottky rectifiers

Mesa and planar GaN Schottky diode rectifiers with reverse breakdown voltages (V/sub RB/) up to 550 and >2000 V, respectively, have been fabricated. The on-state resistance, R/sub ON/, was 6 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ and 0.8 /spl Omega/ cm/sup 2/, respectively, producing figure-of-merit values for (V/sub RB/)/sup 2//R/sub ON/ in the range 5-48 MW/spl middot/cm/sup -2/. At low biases the reverse leakage current was proportional to the size of the rectifying contact perimeter, while at high biases the current was proportional to the area of this contact. These results suggest that at low reverse biases, the leakage is dominated by the surface component, while at higher biases the bulk component dominates. On-state voltages were 3.5 V for the 550 V diodes and /spl ges/15 for the 2 kV diodes. Reverse recovery times were <0.2 /spl mu/s for devices switched from a forward current density of /spl sim/500 A/spl middot/cm/sup -2/ to a reverse bias of 100 V.

Interdiffusion of In and Ga in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells

Thermal stability of InxGa1-xN/GaN multiple quantum wells with InN mole fraction of ∼0.23 and ∼0.30 was investigated by postgrowth thermal annealing. Low temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy was employed to determine the temperature dependence of the interdiffusion coefficient of In and Ga in InGaN/GaN quantum wells. The interdiffusion process is characterized by a single activation energy of about 3.4±0.5 eV and governed by vacancy-controlled second-nearest-neighbor hopping. Due to composition inhomogeneity, lower diffusivity is observed at the early stage of thermal annealing.

GaN electronics for high power, high temperature applications

A brief review is given of recent progress in fabrication of high voltage GaN and AlGaN rectifiers, GaN/AlGaN heterojunction bipolar transistors and GaN metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors. Improvements in epitaxial layer quality and in fabrication techniques have led to significant advances in device performance.

Effects of thermal annealing on the luminescence and structural properties of high indium-content InGaN/GaN quantum wells

Postgrowth thermal annealing was applied to investigate the optical and structural properties of InxGa1−xN/GaN multiple quantum wells with high InN mole fraction. Thermal annealing at 900 °C results in a twentyfold increase of the integrated photoluminescence intensity. Photoluminescence emission is also improved from a broad band for the as-grown sample to two dominant peaks for the annealed sample. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy shows the existence of quantum dot-like islands in the wells for the as-grown sample but these islands are significantly reduced after thermal annealing at 900 °C.

Direct measurement of piezoelectric field in In0.23Ga0.77N/GaN multiple quantum wells by electrotransmission spectroscopy

In this communication, we present experimental evidence of the piezoelectric-field-induced quantum-confined Stark effect on In0.23Ga0.77N/GaN multiple quantum wells. The optical transitions in In0.23Ga0.77N/GaN p-i-n multiple quantum wells were studied by using electrotransmission (ET) at room temperature. Quantum-well-related signals are well resolved in our ET spectra. Since the strong internal electric field breaks the symmetry of the quantum wells, both the allowed and the forbidden transitions are observed. Clear energy blueshifts in accordance with increasing reversed bias are observed in ET spectra. The strength of piezoelectric field is found to be 1.7–1.9 MV/cm in the In0.23Ga0.77N strain quantum well layer, which is comparable with the measurement reported in the literature. We have shown experimentally how the piezoelectric field affects the energy shift for the strained multiple quantum wells.

Temperature dependence of the radiative recombination zone in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes

The temperature dependence of the radiative recombination zone in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes is investigated. From the electroluminescence spectra measured at various temperatures, it is found that there are two peaks at about 400 and 460 nm, which can be assigned as Mg-related and quantum well transitions, respectively. The behavior of these two peaks with temperature is modeled by the two rate equation. Based on this model, we deduce the activation energy of Mg in GaN films to be about 126 meV, which is consistent with reported results obtained by other techniques.

Improvement of near-ultraviolet InGaN-GaN light-emitting diodes with an AlGaN electron-blocking layer grown at low temperature

The 400-nm near-ultraviolet InGaN-GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with Mg-doped AlGaN electron-blocking (EB) layers of various configurations and grown under various conditions, were grown on sapphire substrates by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy system. LEDs with AlGaN EB layers grown at low temperature (LT) were found more effectively to prevent electron overflow than conventional LEDs with an AlGaN one grown at high temperature (HT). The electroluminescent intensity of LEDs with an LT-grown AlGaN layer was nearly three times greater than that of LEDs with an HT-grown AlGaN. Additionally, the LEDs with an LT-grown AlGaN layer in H/sub 2/ ambient were found to increase the leakage current by three orders of magnitude and reduce the efficiency of emission.