Nassim Rahimi

Electrical and microstructure analysis of nickel-based low-resistance ohmic contacts to n-GaSb

Ultra low resistance ohmic contacts are fabricated on n-GaSb grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Different doping concentrations and n-GaSb thicknesses are studied to understand the tunneling transport mechanism between the metal contacts and the semiconductor. Different contact metallization and anneal process windows are investigated to achieve optimal penetration depth of Au in GaSb for low resistances. The fabrication, electrical characterization, and microstructure analysis of the metal-semiconductor interfaces created during ohmic contact formation are discussed. The characterization techniques include cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Specific transfer resistances down to 0.1 Ω mm and specific contact resistances of 1 × 10−6 Ω cm2 are observed.

Transmission Electron Microscopy-Based Analysis of Electrically Conductive Surface Defects in Large Area GaSb Homoepitaxial Diodes Grown Using Molecular Beam Epitaxy

We investigate a mechanism causing shorting of large area GaSb diodes grown on GaSb substrates using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The source of these shorts is determined to be large crystallographic defects on the surface of the diodes that are formed around droplets of gallium ejected from the gallium Knudsen cells during MBE. The gallium droplets cause defects in the crystal structure, and, as the epitaxy continues, the gallium is incorporated into the surrounding material. The shape of the defects is pyramidal with a central void extending from the epi-surface to the gallium core. Processing a GaSb diode with these surface defects results in the top-side contact metal migrating into the defect and shorting the diode. This prevents realization of large area diodes that are critical to applications such as photovoltaics and detectors. The diodes in this study are electrically characterized and the defect formation mechanism is investigated using cross-section transmission electron microscopy and electron dispersive spectroscopy.

Ohmic contacts to n-type GaSb grown on GaAs by the interfacial misfit dislocation technique

Low resistance ohmic contacts have been successfully fabricated on n-GaSb layers grown by MBE on semi-insulating (SI) GaAs substrates using the Interfacial Misfit Dislocation (IMF) technique. Although intended for photovoltaic applications, the results are applicable to many antimonide-based devices. The IMF technique enables the growth of epitaxial GaSb layers on semi-insulating GaAs substrates resulting in vertical current confinement not possible on unintentionally doped ~ 1e17 cm-3 p-doped bulk GaSb. Results for low resistance ohmic contacts using NiGeAu, PdGeAu, GeAuNi and GeAuPd metallizations for various temperatures are reported. Specific transfer resistances down to 0.12 Ω-mm and specific contact resistances of < 2e-6 Ω-cm2 have been observed.

Characterization of surface defects on Be-implanted GaSb

Characteristics of ion implantation induced damage in GaSb, and its removal by rapid thermal annealing, are investigated by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) has been implemented on implanted GaSb for various temperatures and durations with the semiconductor capped, which avoids Sb out-diffusion and Ga agglomeration during the process. The RTA damage induced in the GaSb wafer was studied by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The results of the microscopy study were then used to optimize the RTA recipe and the Si3N4 capping layer thickness to achieve doping activation while minimizing crystalline damage. Results indicate a lattice quality that is close to pristine GaSb for samples annealed at 600 °C for 10 s using 260 nm thick Si3N4 capping layer. Secondary ion mass spectrometry measurement indicates that the implanted Be does not migrate in the GaSb at the used annealing temperature. Finally, electrical characteristics of di...

Emitter thickness optimization for GaSb thermophotovoltaic cells grown by molecular beam epitaxy

GaSb thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices were fabricated using a Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) technique. Different emitter thicknesses (de) were studied to maximize the TPV cell’s short circuit current density. In this regard, the fabricated TPV device’s emitter was incrementally wet-etched and characterized to find the optimal thickness value. Simulations were performed using the Crosslight APSYS® platform over the full-spectrum range in order to predict device performance for different designs, while maximizing the photocurrent generation and enhancing the emitter sheet resistance. TPV devices were characterized electrically and optically. These experimental data showed that the etched emitter has minimal impact on the measured short circuit current density (Jsc) while simulated results demonstrated an optimal de of 200 nm.

Beryllium implant activation and damage recovery study in n-type GaSb

Damage induced by the implantation of beryllium in n-type GaSb and its removal by Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) are studied in detail by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Cross Sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy (XTEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). RTA has been implemented with different times and temperatures in order to optimize ion activation and to avoid Sb outdiffusion during the process. Results indicate a lattice quality that is close to pristine GaSb for samples annealed at 600 °C for 10s using a thick Si3N4 capping layer. Electrical response of the implanted diodes is measured and characterized as function of different annealing conditions.

Low resistance palladium/molybdenum based ohmic contacts to n-GaSb grown on GaAs

Low resistance ohmic contacts were fabricated on n-type GaSb grown by molecular beam epitaxy. N-type GaSb epilayers with different doping concentrations and thicknesses were fabricated and studied in order to investigate the current transport mechanism between the metal contacts and the semiconductor. Different metallization schemes were implemented to achieve the lowest possible contact resistance. Rapid thermal annealing was performed at various temperatures to achieve the optimal gold penetration into the GaSb epilayers for low resistance. Ohmic contact fabrication and electrical characterization are discussed in detail. The microstructure analysis of the semiconductor and metal contact interfaces was performed using cross-section transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Specific contact resistances as low as 3 × 10−6 Ω cm2 were obtained.

Ultra-low resistance NiGeAu and PdGeAu ohmic contacts on N-GaSb grown on GaAs

Ultra-low resistance ohmic contacts on n-GaSb with specific transfer resistances down to 0.12 Ω-mm and specific contact resistances of ~1.1e-6 Ω-cm2 have been successfully fabricated on semi-insulating (SI) GaAs substrates using the Interfacial Misfit Dislocation (IMF) technique. The IMF technique enables epitaxial growth of GaSb layers on semi-insulating GaAs substrates resulting in vertical current confinement not possible on unintentionally ~ 1e17 cm-3 p-doped bulk GaSb. Results for low resistance ohmic contacts using NiGeAu, PdGeAu, GeAuNi and GeAuPd metallizations for various temperatures are reported. The low annealing temperature of NiGeAu and PdGeAu metallizations show promising results, but the lifetime of a device with these contacts have not yet been studied.

Epitaxial and non-epitaxial large area GaSb-based thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells

InGaAsSb and GaSb thermophotovoltaic cells were grown lattice-matched to GaSb substrates epitaxially by the Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) method and fabricated non-epitaxially using ion-implantation. TPV cells with 1 × 1 cm dimensions were fabricated. External quantum efficiencies and device characteristics including open circuit voltage, short circuit current density, ideality factor and reverse saturation current density of the TPYs were measured and compared. For the quaternary MBE-grown InGaAsSb, obtaining high Voc was challenging due to the low shunt resistance caused by growth defects in the relatively thick epitaxial design. However, this TPV demonstrated promising fundamental deuce parameters since the lowest ideality factor and reverse saturation current density were observed compared to the others. The MBE-grown GaSb TPV structures had an order of magnitude thinner epitaxy and improved shunt resistance. The implanted GaSb TPYs exhibited similar performance to the MBE TPYs indicating that implant-induced damage was not a limiting factor.

GaSb thermophotovoltaics: current challenges and solutions

GaSb thermophotovoltaic cells fabricated using Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and ion implantation techniques are studied. Challenges including different defect formation mechanisms using MBE and ion-induced defects using ion implantation were investigated by cross-sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy (XTEM), X-Ray Diffraction spectroscopy (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). For MBE grown TPVs, several approaches were used to suppress defects, including substrate preparation and using different MBE reactors. For ion-implanted TPVs, different implant doses and energies were tested to minimize the crystal damage and various Rapid Thermal Anneal (RTA) process recipes were studied to maximize the crystal recovery. Large area TPV cells with 1 × 1 cm dimensions were fabricated using these techniques, then electrically and optically characterized. Ideality factors and dark saturation currents were measured and compared for various TPVs.