• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.14-19
• /
• 2000

Free-standing GaN single crystal substrates have been obtained by growing thick GaN epitaxial layers on (0001) sapphire substrates using hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) method. After growing the GaN thick film of 200 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, a free-standing GaN with a size of 10 mm $\times$10 mm were obtained by mechanical polishing process to remove sapphire substrate. Crack-free GaN substrates have been obtained by GaCl pre-treatment prior to the growth of GaN epitaxial layers. Properties of free-standing GaN substrates have been compared with those of lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) GaN films by double-crystal x-ray diffraction (DC-XRD), cathodoluminescence (CL) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements.

• Journal of IKEEE
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.722-727
• /
• 2022

In this paper, we present the design and characterization of a power amplifier (PA) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) in the X-band. The device is designed using a 0.25 ㎛ gate length AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) on SiC process. The developed X-band AlGaN/GaN power amplifier MMIC achieves small signal gain of over 21.6 dB and output power more than 46.11 dBm (40.83 W) in the entire band of 9 GHz to 10 GHz. Its power added efficiency (PAE) is 43.09% ~ 44.47% and the chip dimensions are 3.6 mm × 4.3 mm. The generated output power density is 2.69 W/mm². It seems that the developed AlGaN/GaN power amplifier MMIC could be applicable to various X-band radar systems operating X-band.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2012.02a
• /
• pp.391-392
• /
• 2012

In these days, the desire for the precise and tiny displays in mobile application has been increased strongly. Currently, laser displays ranging from large-size laser TV to mobile projectors, are commercially available or due to appear on the market [1]. In order to achieve a mobile projectors, the semiconductor laser diodes should be used as a laser source due to their size and weight. In this presentation, the continuous etch characteristics of Pd and AlGaN/GaN superlattice for the fabrication of blue laser diodes were investigated by using inductively coupled $CHF_3$ and $Cl_2$ -based plasma. The GaN laser diode samples were grown on the sapphire (0001) substrate using a metal organic chemical vapor deposition system. A Si-doped GaN layer was grown on the substrate, followed by growth of LD structures, including the active layers of InGaN/GaN quantum well and barriers layer, as shown in other literature [2], and the palladium was used as a p-type ohmic contact metal. The etch rate of AlGaN/GaN superlattice (2.5/2.5 nm for 100 periods) and n-GaN by using $Cl_2$ (90%)/Ar (10%) and $Cl_2$ (50%)/$CHF_3$ (50%) plasma chemistry, respectively. While when the $Cl_2$/Ar plasma were used, the etch rate of AlGaN/GaN superlattice shows a similar etch rate as that of n-GaN, the $Cl_2/CHF_3$ plasma shows decreased etch rate, compared with that of $Cl_2$/Ar plasma, especially for AlGaN/GaN superlattice. Furthermore, it was also found that the Pd which is deposited on top of the superlattice couldn't be etched with $Cl_2$/Ar plasma. It was indicating that the etching step should be separated into 2 steps for the Pd etching and the superlattice etching, respectively. The etched surface of stacked Pd/superlattice as a result of 2-step etching process including Pd etching ($Cl_2/CHF_3$) and SLs ($Cl_2$/Ar) etching, respectively. EDX results shows that the etched surface is a GaN waveguide free from the Al, indicating the SLs were fully removed by etching. Furthermore, the optical and electrical properties will be also investigated in this presentation. In summary, Pd/AlGaN/GaN SLs were successfully etched exploiting noble 2-step etching processes.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.179-184
• /
• 2016

In recent years, the on-resistance, power loss and cell density of Si power devices have not exhibited significant improvements, and performance is approaching the material limits. GaN is considered an attractive material for future high-power applications because of the wide band-gap, large breakdown field, high electron mobility, high switching speed and low on-resistance. Here we report on the Ohmic contact resistance and reverse-bias characteristics of AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes with and without annealing. Annealing in oxygen at $500^{\circ}C$ resulted in an increase in the breakdown voltage from 641 to 1,172 V for devices with an anode-cathode separation of $20{\mu}m$. However, these annealing conditions also resulted in an increase in the contact resistance of $0.183{\Omega}-mm$, which is attributed to oxidation of the metal contacts. Auger electron spectroscopy revealed diffusion of oxygen and Au into the AlGaN and GaN layers following annealing. The improved reverse-bias characteristics following annealing in oxygen are attributed to passivation of dangling bonds and plasma damage due to interactions between oxygen and GaN/AlGaN. Thermal annealing is therefore useful during the fabrication of high-voltage GaN devices, but the effects on the Ohmic contact resistance should be considered.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.60 no.12
• /
• pp.2265-2269
• /
• 2011

1 kV high-voltage GaN Schottky diode is realized using GaN-on-Si template by oxidizing Ni-Schottky contact. The Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis revealed the formation of $NiO_x$ at the top of Schottky contact. The Schottky contact was changed to from Ni/Au to Ni/Ni-Au alloy/Au/$NiO_x$ by oxidation. Ni diffusion into AlGaN improves the Schottky interface and the trap-assisted tunneling current. In addition, the reverse leakage current and the isolation-leakage current are efficiently suppressed by oxidation. The isolation-leakage current was reduced about 3 orders of magnitudes. The reverse leakage current was also decreased from 2.44 A/$cm^2$ to 8.90 mA/$cm^2$ under -100 V-biased condition. The formed group-III oxides ($AlO_x$ and $GaO_x$) during the oxidation is thought to suppress the surface leakage current by passivating surface dangling bonds, N-vacancies and process damages.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.253-256
• /
• 2017

A thin Te interlayer was applied to a Ni/n-InGaAs contact to reduce the contact resistance between Ni-InGaAs and n-InGaAs. A 5-nm-thick Te layer was first deposited on a Si-doped n-type $In_{0.53}Ga_{0.47}As$ layer, followed by in situ deposition of a 30-nm-thick Ni film. After the formation of the Ni-InGaAs alloy by rapid thermal annealing at $300^{\circ}C$ for 30 s, the extracted specific contact resistivity (${\rho}_c$) reduced by more than one order of magnitude from $2.86{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$ to $8.98{\times}10^{-6}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$ than that of the reference sample. A thinner Ni-InGaAs alloy layer with a better morphology was obtained by the introduction of the Te layer. The improved interface morphology and the graded Ni-InGaAs layer formed at the interface were believed to be responsible for ${\rho}_c$ reduction.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.65 no.1
• /
• pp.88-96
• /
• 2016

In this paper, the GaN FET based phase-shift full-bridge dc-dc converter design is implemented. Switch characteristics of GaN FET were analyzed in detail by comparing state-of-the-art Si MOSFET. Owing to the low conduction resistance and parasitic capacitance, it is expected to GaN FET based power conversion system has improved performance. However, GaN FET is vulnerable to electric interference due to the relatively low threshold voltage and fast switching transient. Therefore, it is necessary to consider PCB layout to design GaN FET based power system because PCB layout is the main reason of stray inductance. To reduce the electric noise, gate voltage of GaN FET is analyzed according to operation mode of phase-shift full-bridge dc-dc converter. Two 600W phase-shifted full-bridge dc-dc converter are designed based on the result to evaluate effects of stray inductance.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.131-135
• /
• 2005

The effect of different surface passivation films on blue or green (465-505 nm) InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well light-emitting diodes (LEDs) die were examined. $SiO_2$ or $SiN_x$ deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, or $Sc_2O_3$ or MgO deposited by rf plasma enhanced molecular beam epitaxy all show excellent passivation qualities. The forward current-voltage (I-V) characteristics were all independent of the passivation film used, even though the MBE-deposited films have lower interface state densities ($3-5{\times}10^{12}\;eV^{-1}\;cm^{-2}$) compared to the PECVD films (${\sim}10^{12}\;eV^{-1}\;cm^{-2}$), The reverse I-V characteristics showed more variation, hut there was no systematic difference for any of the passivation films, The results suggest that simple PECVD processes are effective for providing robust surface protection for InGaN/GaN LEDs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 1995.11a
• /
• pp.97-101
• /
• 1995

GaN films were prepared on Si(111) substrates by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) on HCl-NH$_3$-N$_2$gas system. Effects of HCl gas flow rate on the film investigate under deposition conditions of flow time of 10min, 20min, 30min. The deposition rate increased with increasing HCl gas flow rate in the range of 10cc/min to 40cc/min and deposition time. Strung (00.2) oriented GaN film was obtained at a lower HCl flow rate and improved of the surface morphology.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2011.02a
• /
• pp.148-148
• /
• 2011

일반적으로 LED 제작에 사용되는 c-plane GaN는 c축 방향으로 발생하는 분극의 영향을 받게 된다. 분극은 LED내 양자우물의 밴드를 기울게 하여 그 결과 전자와 홀의 재결합 확률을 감소시켜 낮은 내부양자효율을 가지게 된다. 이러한 문제를 해결하기 위한 여러 가지 방법들이 제시되었는데 그 중에서도 특히 a-plane 혹은 m-plane면과 같은 무분극 면을 사용하는 GaN LED가 주목받고 있다. 그 이유는 무분극 면은 분극이 발생하는 c축과 수직이기 때문에 분극의 영향을 받지 않아 높은 내부 양자효율을 가질수 있다. 본 연구에서는 MOCVD 장비를 사용하여 2인치 r-plane 사파이어 기판위에 3um두께의 a-plane GaN을 성장하였다. 그위에 2um정도로 Si을 도핑하여 n-type GaN 형성한후 단일 양자우물, 그리고 Mg을 도핑하여 p-type GaN을 성장하였다. 장파장대역의 a-plane LED의 특성을 알아보기 위해서 양자우물 형성시 In의 조성비를 높였다. 일반적인 포토리소그래피 공정과 Dry etching 공정을 사용하여 메사구조를 형성하였으며 Ti/Al/Pt/Au와 Ni/Au를 각각 n-type과 p-type의 전극 물질로 사용하였다. 제작된 LED의 특성을 파악하기 위해서 인가전류를 0부터 100mA까지 출력 스펙트럼을 측정하였으며 orange대역의 파장을 갖는 LED를 얻었다. 인가전류별 Peak 파장의 변화와 반측폭의 변화를 파악하여 장파장 대역의 a-plane LED의 특성을 확인하였다.