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High Breakdown Voltage GaN Schottky Diodes for THz Frequency Multipliers

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Abstract

Quasi-vertical gallium nitride (GaN) Schottky diodes on silicon carbide (SiC) substrates were fabricated for frequency multiplier applications. The epitaxial structure employed had an n− layer of 590 nm with doping 6.6 × 1016 cm−3, while the n+ layer was 950 nm thick, with doping 2 × 1019 cm−3. Potassium hydroxide (KOH) chemical surface treatment before Schottky contact metallization was employed to study its effect in improving the diode parameters. The KOH-treated diode demonstrated a breakdown voltage of − 27.5 V, which is the highest reported for this type of diode. Cut-off frequencies around 500 GHz were obtained at high reverse bias (− 25 V) in spite of high series resistance. The result obtained in breakdown voltage value warrants further research in surface treatment and post-annealing of the Schottky contact optimization in order to decrease the series resistance.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the French ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche), under the CE24 ‘SchoGAN’ project. This work was also supported by the CPER “Photonics for Society”, the CPER “WAVETECH”, and the Hauts de France Regional Council and the French Network RENATECH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS, Centrale Lille, Univ. Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, UMR 8520 – IEMN Institut d’Electronique de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie, Université de Lille, Lille, France

    G. Di Gioia, M. Samnouni, V. Chinni, X. Wallart, M. Zegaoui, G. Ducournau, Y. Roelens & M. Zaknoune

  2. CNRS, Centre de Recherche sur l’Hétéro-Epitaxie et ses Applications (CRHEA), Université Côte d’Azur, Valbonne, France

    E. Frayssinet & Y. Cordier

  3. Laboratoire d’Études du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique et Atmosphères (LERMA), Paris, France

    P. Mondal & J. Treuttel

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  1. G. Di Gioia
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Di Gioia, G., Frayssinet, E., Samnouni, M. et al. High Breakdown Voltage GaN Schottky Diodes for THz Frequency Multipliers. J. Electron. Mater. 52, 5249–5255 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-023-10499-3

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