Review of radiation damage in GaN-based materials and devices

Pearton, S. J.; Deist, Richard; Ren, F.; Liu, Lu; Polyakov, A. Y.; Kim, Jihyun

doi:10.1116/1.4799504

Cited by 197 publications

(147 citation statements)

References 144 publications

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“…Gallium Nitride (GaN) is a promising semiconductor for high-temperature, high-frequency and high-power applications because of improved material parameters such as higher energy bandgap, higher breakdown field, higher electron saturation velocity, higher thermal conductivity, and direct bandgap. [1][2][3][4] GaN based opto-electronic devices such as light emitting diodes, avalanche photodiodes, and electronic devices such as high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) require good quality Schottky contacts for a reliable performance. [5][6][7][8] For HEMT applications, a Schottky gate contact with large barrier height is always desirable to achieve improved transconductance, maximum drain current and high breakdown voltage of the device.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of significantly high barrier height in Cu/GaN Schottky diode

et al. 2016

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Current-voltage (I-V) measurements combined with analytical calculations have been used to explain mechanisms for forward-bias current flow in Copper (Cu) Schottky diodes fabricated on Gallium Nitride (GaN) epitaxial films. An ideality factor of 1.7 was found at room temperature (RT), which indicated deviation from thermionic emission (TE) mechanism for current flow in the Schottky diode. Instead the current transport was better explained using the thermionic field-emission (TFE) mechanism. A high barrier height of 1.19 eV was obtained at room temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to investigate the plausible reason for observing Schottky barrier height (SBH) that is significantly higher than as predicted by the Schottky-Mott model for Cu/GaN diodes. XPS measurements revealed the presence of an ultrathin cuprous oxide (Cu2O) layer at the interface between Cu and GaN. With Cu2O acting as a degenerate p-type semiconductor with high work function of 5.36 eV, a high barrier height of 1.19 eV is obtained for the Cu/Cu2O/GaN Schottky diode. Moreover, the ideality factor and barrier height were found to be temperature dependent, implying spatial inhomogeneity of barrier height at the metal semiconductor interface.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of significantly high barrier height in Cu/GaN Schottky diode

et al. 2016

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“…12,22,27,35,38,56,57 The latter can act as sinks for created defects and parameters such as the carrier removal rate due to trapping of carriers into radiation-induced defects and is also found to depend on the crystal growth method used to grow the GaN layers. There are three common techniques used to grow GaN layers, namely Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD), Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE) and Epitaxial Lateral Overgrowth (ELOG), each with its own characteristics in terms of defect density and distribution.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Review—Ionizing Radiation Damage Effects on GaN Devices

Pearton

Ren

Patrick

et al. 2015

ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol.

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Gallium Nitride based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are attractive for use in high power and high frequency applications, with higher breakdown voltages and two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density compared to their GaAs counterparts. Specific applications for nitride HEMTs include air, land and satellite based communications and phased array radar. Highly efficient GaNbased blue light emitting diodes (LEDs) employ AlGaN and InGaN alloys with different compositions integrated into heterojunctions and quantum wells. The realization of these blue LEDs has led to white light sources, in which a blue LED is used to excite a phosphor material; light is then emitted in the yellow spectral range, which, combined with the blue light, appears as white. Alternatively, multiple LEDs of red, green and blue can be used together. Both of these technologies are used in high-efficiency white electroluminescent light sources. These light sources are efficient and long-lived and are therefore replacing incandescent and fluorescent lamps for general lighting purposes. Since lighting represents 20-30% of electrical energy consumption, and because GaN white light LEDs require ten times less energy than ordinary light bulbs, the use of efficient blue LEDs leads to significant energy savings. GaN-based devices are more radiation hard than their Si and GaAs counterparts due to the high bond strength in III-nitride materials. The response of GaN to radiation damage is a function of radiation type, dose and energy, as well as the carrier density, impurity content and dislocation density in the GaN. The latter can act as sinks for created defects and parameters such as the carrier removal rate due to trapping of carriers into radiation-induced defects depends on the crystal growth method used to grow the GaN layers. The growth method has a clear effect on radiation response beyond the carrier type and radiation source. We review data on the radiation resistance of AlGaN/GaN and InAlN/GaN HEMTs and GaN-based LEDs to different types of ionizing radiation, and discuss ion stopping mechanisms. The primary energy levels introduced by different forms of radiation, carrier removal rates and role of existing defects in GaN are discussed. The carrier removal rates are a function of initial carrier concentration and dose but not of dose rate or hydrogen concentration in the nitride material grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition. Proton and electron irradiation damage in HEMTs creates positive threshold voltage shifts due to a decrease in the two dimensional electron gas concentration resulting from electron trapping at defect sites, as well as a decrease in carrier mobility and degradation of drain current and transconductance. State-of-art simulators now provide accurate predictions for the observed changes in radiation-damaged HEMT performance. Neutron irradiation creates more extended damage regions and at high doses leads to Fermi level pinning while 60 Co γ-ray irradiation leads to much smaller changes in HEMT drain ...

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“…The radiation damage to GaN materials and devices under various radiation species, such as proton, neutron, gamma-ray, and electrons has been reviewed in other references; 107,108 here we only provide a concise discussion in neutron irradiation effects. Both fast and thermal neutrons damage the GaN lattice.…”

Section: Harsh-environment Performance a Neutron Irradiation Damagementioning

confidence: 99%

Review of using gallium nitride for ionizing radiation detection

Wang

Mulligan

Brillson

et al. 2015

Applied Physics Reviews

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With the largest band gap energy of all commercial semiconductors, GaN has found wide application in the making of optoelectronic devices. It has also been used for photodetection such as solar blind imaging as well as ultraviolet and even X-ray detection. Unsurprisingly, the appreciable advantages of GaN over Si, amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), SiC, amorphous SiC (a-SiC), and GaAs, particularly for its radiation hardness, have drawn prompt attention from the physics, astronomy, and nuclear science and engineering communities alike, where semiconductors have traditionally been used for nuclear particle detection. Several investigations have established the usefulness of GaN for alpha detection, suggesting that when properly doped or coated with neutron sensitive materials, GaN could be turned into a neutron detection device. Work in this area is still early in its development, but GaN-based devices have already been shown to detect alpha particles, ultraviolet light, X-rays, electrons, and neutrons. Furthermore, the nuclear reaction presented by 14N(n,p)14C and various other threshold reactions indicates that GaN is intrinsically sensitive to neutrons. This review summarizes the state-of-the-art development of GaN detectors for detecting directly and indirectly ionizing radiation. Particular emphasis is given to GaN's radiation hardness under high-radiation fields.

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Review of radiation damage in GaN-based materials and devices

Cited by 197 publications

References 144 publications

Investigation of significantly high barrier height in Cu/GaN Schottky diode

Investigation of significantly high barrier height in Cu/GaN Schottky diode

Review—Ionizing Radiation Damage Effects on GaN Devices

Review of using gallium nitride for ionizing radiation detection

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