Abstract
The electrical characteristics and reverse leakage mechanisms of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) surface-treated Ni/Au/Al2O3/GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) diodes were investigated by using the current-voltage (I–V) and capacitance-voltage (C–V) characteristics. The MIS diode was formed on n-GaN after etching the AlGaN in the AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. The TMAH-treated MIS diode showed better Schottky characteristics with a lower ideality factor, higher barrier height and lower reverse leakage current compared to the TMAH-free MIS diode. In addition, the TMAH-free MIS diodes exhibited a transition from Poole-Frenkel emission at low voltages to Schottky emission at high voltages, whereas the TMAH-treated MIS diodes showed Schottky emission over the entire voltage range. Reasonable mechanisms for the improved device-performance characteristics in the TMAH-treated MIS diode are discussed in terms of the decreased interface state density or traps associated with an oxide material and the reduced tunneling probability.
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Reddy, M.S.P., Lee, JH. & Jang, JS. Electrical characteristics of TMAH-surface treated Ni/Au/Al2O3/GaN MIS Schottky structures. Electron. Mater. Lett. 10, 411–416 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13391-014-3356-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13391-014-3356-7