Person:

Lou, Xiabing

Inversion-mode GaAs wave-shaped metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (WaveFETs) are demonstrated using atomic-layer epitaxy of La2O3 as gate dielectric on (111)A nano-facets formed on a GaAs (100) substrate. The wave-shaped nano-facets, which are desirable for the device on-state and off-state performance, are realized by lithographic patterning and anisotropic wet etching with optimized geometry. A well-behaved 1 μm gate length GaAs WaveFET shows a maximum drain current of 64 mA/mm, a subthreshold swing of 135 mV/dec, and an ION/IOFF ratio of greater than 107.

Summary form only given. Recently, GaN-based high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT) has demonstrated its promise in high frequency, high power and low noise electronic devices. The lattice matched InAlN/GaN HEMT structure provides a higher 2D electron density than AlGaN/GaN due to a larger bandgap offset and minimized short-channel-effects due to its thinner barrier. However, because of its several-nm thin barrier, those devices usually suffer from high gate leakage and interface trap issues, the device off-state performance is degraded and thereby the off-state breakdown voltage is decreased. Therefore, finding a good method to reduce the gate leakage and interface trap density is of great importance to improve the device off-state performance. In this study, we use atomic layer epitaxial MgCaO as gate dielectric to fabricate sub-100nm InAlN/GaN MOSHEMTs with significantly improved maximum drain current, current on/off ratio and low subthreshold swing.

We demonstrate for the first time that a singlecrystalline epitaxial MgxCa1−xO film can be deposited on gallium nitride (GaN) by atomic layer deposition (ALD). By adjusting the ratio between the amounts of Mg and Ca in the film, a lattice matched MgxCa1−xO/GaN(0001) interface can be achieved with low interfacial defect density. High-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that the lattice parameter of this ternary oxide nearly obeys Vegard’s law. An atomically sharp interface from cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the high quality of the epitaxy.High-temperature capacitance−voltage characterization showed that the film with composition Mg0.25Ca0.75O has the lowest interfacial defect density. With this optimal oxide composition, a Mg0.25Ca0.75O/AlGaN/GaN metal−oxide −semiconductor high-electron-mobility (MOS-HEMT) device was fabricated. An ultrahigh on/off ratio of 1012 and a near ideal SS of 62 mV/dec were achieved with this device.