The electrical characteristics of metallization contacts to a thin film N-polar n-type GaN layer fabricated by a laser lift-off process combined with a dry etching are investigated. It is shown that for Pt Schottky contacts, the Schottky barrier height of the N-polar GaN is 1.27eV, which is larger than that (1.23eV) of reference Ga-polar GaN. Ti∕Al Ohmic contacts to the N-polar GaN experience thermal degradation even at 400°C. Such annealing-induced degradation is explained in terms of the presence of the complex surface states of the N-polar GaN, which consists of impurities and process-induced donorlike and acceptorlike defects.

We report on the electrical properties of TiN(30 nm)/Al(200 nm) Ohmic contacts to N-face n-type GaN for high-performance vertical light-emitting diodes and compare them with those of Ti(30 nm)/Al(200 nm) contacts. Both the as-deposited samples show Ohmic behaviors with contact resistivity of (6.0–7.2)×10−4 Ω cm2. However, annealing the samples at 300 °C causes the degradation of their electrical properties. Furthermore, unlike the TiN/Al contacts, the Ti/Al contacts suffer from aging degradation when exposed to air. Based on the x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry results, Ohmic formation and degradation mechanisms are briefly described and discussed.

We report the improved performance of InGaN/GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) through Ag reflectors combined with a Zn middle layer. It is shown that the Zn middle layer (5 nm thick) suppresses the agglomeration of Ag reflectors by forming ZnO and dissolving into Ag. The Ag/Zn/Ag contacts show a specific contact resistance of 6.2 × 10(-5) Ωcm(2) and reflectance of ~83% at a wavelength of 440 nm when annealed at 500 °C, which are much better than those of Ag only contacts. Blue LEDs fabricated with the 500 °C-annealed Ag/Zn/Ag reflectors show a forward voltage of 2.98 V at an injection current of 20 mA, which is lower than that (3.02 V) of LEDs with the annealed Ag only contacts. LEDs with the 500 °C-annealed Ag/Zn/Ag contacts exhibit 34% higher output power (at 20 mA) than LEDs with the annealed Ag only contacts.

We report on the formation of low-resistance Ohmic contacts to N-face n-GaN for high-power vertical light-emitting diodes using an Al–Ga solid solution (50 nm)/Ti(30 nm)/Al(200 nm) scheme and compare them with Ti(30 nm)/Al(200 nm) contacts. The Al–Ga solid solution layer is introduced to minimize the formation of Ga vacancies near the N-face n-GaN surface. It is shown that, unlike the Ti/Al contacts, the Al–Ga solid solution/Ti/Al contacts exhibit Ohmic behavior with a resistivity of 4.1×10−4 Ω cm2, even after annealing at 250 °C. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry examinations are performed to understand the temperature dependence of the electrical properties.

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