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Title: Degradation mechanisms of Ti/Al/Ni/Au-based Ohmic contacts on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Journal Article · · Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4919237· OSTI ID:1265486
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
  2. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS)
  4. Hebei Univ. of Technology, Tianjing (China). Dept. of Electronic Science and Technology
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We investigated the degradation mechanism of Ti/Al/Ni/Au-based Ohmic metallization on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors upon exposure to buffer oxide etchant (BOE). The major effect of BOE on the Ohmic metal was an increase of sheet resistance from 2.89 to 3.69 Ω/ₜafter 3 min BOE treatment. The alloyed Ohmic metallization consisted 3–5 μm Ni-Al alloy islands surrounded by Au-Al alloy-rings. The morphology of both the islands and ring areas became flatter after BOE etching. Lastly, we used energy dispersive x-ray analysis and Auger electron microscopy to analyze the compositions and metal distributions in the metal alloys prior to and after BOE exposure.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1265486
Journal Information:
Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics, Vol. 33, Issue 3; ISSN 2166-2746
Publisher:
American Vacuum Society/AIPCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 5 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE