Experimental Evidence of Surface Mobile Holes on GaN HEMT Structure

C. P. Wena, J. Y. Wanga,b, Y. L. Haoa,b, B. Shenc

a. Institute of Microelectronic, Peking University, Beijing, P.R.China 100871
b. National Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Fabrication Technology, Beijing, P.R.China 100871
c. Research Center for Wide Gap Semiconductor, Peking Univ., Beijing, P. R. China 100871
Email: cpwen@ieee.org

Introduction
Removal of holes on the top surface of the barrier layer was previously proposed as the
root cause of current collapse, a major reliability issue of high power GaN HEMT. The
presence of these mobile positive charges has eluded detection for years until recently. In
this paper, Hall measurement with an unconventional test vehicle was employed to verify
the existence of these surface holes. The result represents a major breakthrough in
understanding the effect of polarization induced electron-hole pairs on transistor
electrical characteristics and reliability.
Characterization of hetero junction semiconductor device structures requires refinement
of conventional test techniques and procedures. Hall (or van der Pauw) effect
measurement is commonly used to characterize semiconductor materials. Average carrier
density and carrier mobility information can be extracted using this well known
procedure, as long as there is a single carrier type. In principle, such technique can be
extended to measure mixed carrier types, samples containing both electrons and holes.
The Hall coefficient for a two carrier type is estimated to be [1]:
RH = (1/qe)*(p-nb2)/(p+nb)2,
where, b = (e/h) is the mobility ratio.
However, it is a challenge to obtain meaningful results because of ohmic contact
problems. An ohmic contact is, by definition, a low energy barrier contact for one of the
carrier type. In other words, an ohmic contact for holes is a high energy barrier (Schottky,
or rectifying) contact for electrons, based on the work function model of metal
semiconductor contacts. For instance, nickel-gold is an excellent, low barrier Ohmic
contact for p-type GaN, but this metal scheme is also known as a Schottky barrier contact
for n-type GaN. Similarly, the Ti-Al-Ni-Au n-type GaN ohmic contact behaves like a
Schottky barrier contact for the holes. This hidden ohmic contact issue has prevented
experimental verification of the presence of polarization induced mobile surface holes in
GaN HEMT structures. The electronic properties of the top surface have remained
unclear despite intensive research effort devoted to nitride device and material research
world wide. In this letter, we wish to report the use of an unconventional metalsemiconductor contact scheme to evaluate the transport properties of the surface carriers.
Tilting of the band edges in the energy band diagram is commonly used to represent the
effect of built-in electric polarization on the energy band diagram of III-nitride material.

Charge neutrality requires that bound charges of opposite polarity and identical
magnitude be present at the two opposite surfaces of a polarized dielectric slab (Fig. 1).
The energy gap between the Fermi level and the respective band edges must be nearly
identical, if the density of states is assumed to be of the same. In the barrier layer of an
AlxGa1-xN/GaN HFET, the polarization P is a function of the aluminum mole fraction x,
and E, is a function of the built-in electric polarization and layer thickness. For a thin,
undoped AlGaN layer, E is very large compared with kBT; very few polarization
induced mobile charges will be found at either surface.
As illustrate in Fig. 2, the Fermi level will intersect with the valence band edge and the
conduction band edge at the opposite surfaces, if the product of the slab thickness and the
slope of the tilted band edges is equal to or larger than the bandgap of the semiconductor
material. The polarization induced carriers become mobile, and consequently removable.
Polarization induced holes and electrons must exist in pairs at the opposite surfaces of the
slab. Removal of a polarization induced positive charge from one surface must be
accompanied by the removal of a negative charge from the opposite surface.
The cross section view of a field effect transistor is shown in Fig. 3. The field effect
transistor is merely a switching element, whose performance figure of merit is measured
by the OFF/ON impedance ratio. The device impedance at the OFF state is limited
by the leakage current between electrodes, while the minimum ON state resistance is
equal to the sum of the Ohmic contact resistance at the source and the drain electrodes,
the transistor channel resistance (Rgate) under the gate electrode, and the series resistance
(Rchannel) in the transistor channel between the gate and the other two electrodes as
illustrated in Fig. 4. Rchannel is negligible compared with the other series resistance
elements in a typical field effect transistor because the transistor channel sheet charge
density is unaffected by the transistor operating conditions. On the contrary, the
polarization induced channel electron sheet charge density is intimately tied to the sheet
charge density of positive charges at the surface of the aluminum gallium nitride barrier
layer.
The true equivalent circuit of a GaN HFET is shown in Fig. 5. We recognize that the
source and drain ohmic contacts for electrons are actually Schottky contacts for holes,
based on the well accepted, contact potential considerations. Likewise, the gate Schottky
contact for electrons is actually an ohmic, or low barrier contact for holes on the surface
of the AlGaN. The drain contact (D) is reverse biased when a positive voltage is applied
to the drain electrode; holes are prevented to flow from the drain electrode to the surface
hole channel except for leakage due to tunneling. Failure to replace the surface mobile
holes drained through the gate electrode of a GaN HEMT subjected to high drain bias
voltage or applied drain bias pulses, leads to reduction of equal number of electrons in the
transistor channel between the gate and the drain electrodes, resulting in current collapse.
The validity of the proposed mechanism for current collapse hinges on the verification of
surface mobile holes on the transistor barrier layer [2]. However, detection of these
mobile positive surface charges remains elusive.

Experiment
Ohmic contacts for holes are used on a van der Pauw test chip. Each one, located at the
four corners of the square chip, consists of a Ni-Au contact. These metal contacts offer a
low energy barrier for holes on the surface of the HEMT structure. They behave like
back-to-back Schottky contacts for the electrons in the transistor channel. An small
external applied bias voltage across any two of these electrodes will favor hole current
over electron current. The Hall coefficient is measured using a Van der Pauw pattern at a
very low current level (< 10 pA). The Hall coefficient indicates that the carriers are
indeed positive mobile charges, and the sheet charge density is estimated to be 8x107/cm2,
in agreement with expectation.
The evidence of mobile (removable) surface holes from the Hall measurement data is
further reinforced by the unequal saturation current (20% difference) flowing between
two (electron) ohmic contacts of different (1.5 to 1 ratio) periphery as shown in Fig. 6.
The I-V data is taken with a HP4156D tester. The saturation current from the larger of the
two ohmic contacts with periphery Plarger is less than that from the smaller contact with
periphery Psmaller. The observed phenomenon is caused by the depletion of the surface
mobile holes near the forward biased hole drain contact, accompanied by irreversible
reduction of transistor 2DEG sheet charge density in the same area (Fig. 7). Local
reduction of channel electron sheet charge leads higher series resistance and lower local
DC saturation current density. The saturation current is therefore lower when a positive
bias voltage is applied to the larger electrode, and the smaller electrode acts as the holedrain contact. In conclusion, the presence of surface mobile holes trapped between two
hole Schottky contact of different periphery is the root cause of unequal DC current
flowing in the opposite direction.
We believe the Hall data is the first direct measurement of the presence of surface mobile
holes in a GaN HEMT structure. Our results also support the proposed mechanism of
current collapse experienced by GaN HEMT operating under high power conditions [2].
Prevention of surface mobile positive carriers removal is believed to be the key to current
collapse free high power GaN HEMT operation.
References
[1] Charles Kittel, Introduction to Solid State Physics, 6th edition, p. 215, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., New York 1986.
[2] C. P. Wen, Proposed GaN HFET Current Collapse Mechanism, Session T-11, 2005
Asian Pacific Microwave Conference Digest, Suzhou, China, Dec. 2005.

Built in electric polarization

+
+
+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+
+
+

Polarization induced
charges on surface

Fig. 1 Energy Band Diagram of Polarized Dielectric Slab - Charge neutrality dictates
the distance E from the Fermi level to the band edges must be nearly equal at
the opposite surfaces of the AlGaN barrier layer if the barrier layer is undoped
Built in electric polarization
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+
+
+

EC
EF

+++
Free holes

Polarization induced
charges on surface
Free electrons
---

EV

Fig. 2 Mobile holes and mobile electrons at or near the opposite surfaces of a thick
dielectric slab with built-in electric polarization Fermi level intersects
with valence band edge and conduction band edge at opposite end of the slab.

AlGaN Barrier Layer

-------------------------------GaN

2-DEG in channel
(interface quantum well)

Fig. 3 AlGaN/GaN Heterojunction Field Effect Transistor with

high polarization induced channel sheet charge density

(High Power PHEMT)

R

ohmic

gate

channel

SOURC

DRAIN

Transistor On-Resistance = R ohmic + R gate + R channel

Po max ~ Maximum Id = Vknee/(Transistor On-Resistance)
R channel highly sensitive to Channel Sheet Charge Density

Fig. 4 Transistor amplifier performance is limited

by ON/OFF resistance ratio
Surface Mobile Holes

Gate Contact
Schottky Diode for electrons,
Ohmic contact for holes

Drain Contact
Schottky Diode to Surface Holes, Ohmic Contact
for Channel Electrons

S
++++++

++++++

C (AlGaN)

------

-----2 DEG
HEMT Channel

Fig. 5 Equivalent circuit for GaN HFET with polarization induced electron hole
pairs, Ohmic contact for electrons is Schottky contact for holes;
Schottky contact for electrons is Ohmic contact for holes.

0.09
0.08
0.07

drain current

0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03

larger contact with positive voltage

smaller contact with positive voltage

0.02
0.01
0.00
-0.01
0

10

Drain voltage

Fig. 6 Direction dependent saturation current flowing between two ohmic

contacts of different periphery on AlGaN/GaN HEMT structure
Larger periphery
TiAlAu contact

Polarization induced holes

Smaller periphery
TiAlAu contact

++++++++++++++

-------------C(AlGaN)

2 DEG (higher resistance

Direction of current flow from larger

to smaller contact at each voltage step

Direction of current flow from smaller

to larger contact at each voltage step

Fig. 7 Depletion of polarization induced surface mobile holes next to the hole drain
contact, accompanied by the reduction of 2 DEG sheet charge density in GaN
HEMT channel resulted in unequal DC saturation current flowing in opposite
directions between two electron ohmic contacts of different periphery; current
measured with a digital I-V tracer.