Interface characterization was carried out on Al2O3/GaN structures using epitaxial n-GaN layers grown on free-standing GaN substrates with relatively low dislocation density (<3 x 10(6) cm(-2)). The Al2O3 layer was prepared by atomic layer deposition. The as-deposited metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) sample showed a significant frequency dispersion and a bump-like feature in capacitance-voltage (C-V) curves at reverse bias, showing high-density interface states in the range of 10(12) cm(-1) eV(-1). On the other hand, excellent C-V characteristics with negligible frequency dispersion were observed from the MOS sample after annealing under a reverse bias at 300 degrees C in air for 3 h. The reverse-bias-annealed sample showed state densities less than 1 x 10(11) cm(-1) eV(-1) and small shifts of flat-band voltage. In addition, the C-V curve measured at 200 degrees C remained essentially similar compared with the room-temperature C-V curves. These results indicate that the present process realizes a stable Al2O3/GaN interface with low interface state densities

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In this study, we investigated the effects of postmetallization annealing (PMA) on the interface properties of GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures using Al 2 O 3 prepared by atomic layer deposition. Excellent capacitance-voltage (C-V ) characteristics without frequency dispersion were observed in the MOS sample after PMA in N 2 ambient at 300-400 °C. The PMA sample showed state densities of only at most 4 ' 10 10 cm %1 eV %1 . A geometric phase analysis of transmission electron microscopy images after PMA revealed a uniform distribution of the lattice constant near the Al 2 O 3 /GaN interface, leading to the improved bond termination and bonding order configuration along the interface.

Thermoelectric conversion is an energy harvesting technology that directly converts waste heat from various sources into electricity by the Seebeck effect of thermoelectric materials with a large thermopower (S), high electrical conductivity (σ), and low thermal conductivity (κ). State‐of‐the‐art nanostructuring techniques that significantly reduce κ have realized high‐performance thermoelectric materials with a figure of merit (ZT = S 2∙σ∙T∙κ−1) between 1.5 and 2. Although the power factor (PF = S 2∙σ) must also be enhanced to further improve ZT, the maximum PF remains near 1.5–4 mW m−1 K−2 due to the well‐known trade‐off relationship between S and σ. At a maximized PF, σ is much lower than the ideal value since impurity doping suppresses the carrier mobility. A metal‐oxide‐semiconductor high electron mobility transistor (MOS‐HEMT) structure on an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure is prepared. Applying a gate electric field to the MOS‐HEMT simultaneously modulates S and σ of the high‐mobility electron gas from −490 µV K−1 and ≈10−1 S cm−1 to −90 µV K−1 and ≈104 S cm−1, while maintaining a high carrier mobility (≈1500 cm2 V−1 s−1). The maximized PF of the high‐mobility electron gas is ≈9 mW m−1 K−2, which is a two‐ to sixfold increase compared to state‐of‐the‐art practical thermoelectric materials.

To investigate current linearity and operation stability of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), we have fabricated and characterized the Al2O3-gate MOS-HEMTs without and with a bias annealing in air at 300 degrees C. Compared with the as-fabricated (unannealed) MOS HEMTs, the bias-annealed devices showed improved linearity of I-D-V-G curves even in the forward bias regime, resulting in increased maximum drain current. Lower subthreshold slope was also observed after bias annealing. From the precise capacitance-voltage analysis on a MOS diode fabricated on the AlGaN/GaN heterostructure, it was found that the bias annealing effectively reduced the state density at the Al2O3/AlGaN interface. This led to efficient modulation of the AlGaN surface potential close to the conduction band edge, resulting in good gate control of two-dimensional electron gas density even at forward bias. In addition, the bias-annealed MOS HEMTshowed small threshold voltage shift after applying forward bias stress and stable operation even at high temperatures