Ion Beam Surface Modification for Achieving Rectification in Gold-Aluminum Nitride-Silicon Junctions

Abstract

Low energy ion bombardment has been utilized to fabricate rectifying contacts on aluminum nitride grown on single crystal silicon substrates. Bombardment of aluminum nitride with methane was followed by sputter deposition of gold contacts. To our knowledge, this is the first report of rectifying contact formation on aluminum nitride. Scanning electron micrographs show that the initially ordered aluminum nitride surface is significantly altered with low energy methane ion beam exposure. Electrical measurements made on samples which had been partially masked during implantation indicate that rectification is a result of the ion bombardment.