【International Papers】Killer defect responsible for reverse leakage current in halide vapor phase epitaxial (011) β-Ga₂O₃ schottky barrier diodes investigated via ultrahigh sensitive emission microscopy and synchrotron X-ray topography

      Crystal defect is an important factor affecting the performance and reliability of semiconductor devices, so it is necessary to study the fatal defect in semiconductor devices. Recently, the Makoto Kasu research team at the Saga University of Japan studied the source of reverse leakage current in halide vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) (011) β-Ga₂O₃  Schottky Barrier Diode (SBD) using ultra-sensitive emission microscopy and synchronous X-ray topography, and found that the polycrystal defect is the leakage current path in SBD. Resulting in a reverse leakage current of -5.1 μA at a reverse voltage of -50 V. This study illustrates the influence of defect on device performance, which is of great significance to improve the performance of Ga₂O₃  devices. Related research results are presented in the "Killer defect responsible for reverse leakage current in halide vapor phase epitaxial (011) β-Ga₂O₃ schottky barrier diodes investigated via ultrahigh sensitive emission microscopy and synchrotron X-ray topography "is published in Applied Physics Letters.

Abstract

      In this paper, the researchers used ultra-sensitive emission microscopy, synchronous X-ray morphology, and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to identify a fatal defect in HVPE (011) β-Ga₂O₃ SBD that leads to reverse leakage current, showing that at a reverse bias of -50 V, A polycrystalline defect results in a leakage current of -5.1 μA. The polycrystalline defect are distributed on the wafer with a density of 10~ 10³ cm^-2. The domains of polycrystalline defect with different crystal orientations were observed by cross section scanning electron microscopy. Further studies using STEM revealed that the polycrystalline defect were accompanied by microcracks with (100) orientations and dislocations propagating along the direction [010].

Paper Link：https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0170398