@article{huynh_wang_liao_tweedie_reddy_breckenridge_collazo_sitar_sierakowski_bockowski_et al._2024, title={Dissolution of Mg-enriched defects in implanted GaN and increased p-type dopant activation}, volume={135}, ISSN={["1089-7550"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0179623}, DOI={10.1063/5.0179623}, abstractNote={Annealing Mg-implanted homoepitaxial GaN at temperatures above 1400 °C eliminates the formation of inversion domains and leads to improved dopant activation efficiency. Extended defects, in the form of inversion domains, contain electrically inactive Mg after post-implantation annealing at temperatures as high as 1300 °C (one GPa N2 overpressure), which results in a low dopant activation efficiency. Triple-axis x-ray data reveal that implant-induced strain is fully relieved after annealing at 1300 °C for 10 min, indicating that strain-inducing point defects formed during implantation have reconfigured and inversion domains are formed. However, annealing at temperatures of 1400–1500 °C (one GPa N2 overpressure) eliminates the presence of the inversion domains. While residual defects, such as dislocation loops, still exist after annealing at and above 1400 °C, chemical analysis at multiple dislocation loops shows no sign of Mg segregation. Meanwhile, an overall decreasing trend in the dislocation loop density is observed after annealing at the higher temperatures and longer times. Additionally, once inversion domains are formed and the samples are cooled to room temperature, they are shown to dissolve with subsequent annealing above 1400 °C. While such defects have been observed before, the important finding that such defects can be dissolved with a short, higher temperature step is key. Earlier work [Breckenridge et al., J. Appl. Phys. Lett. 118, 022101 (2021)] addressing electrical measurements of these types of samples showed that annealing at 1400 °C leads to a dopant activation efficiency that is an order of magnitude higher than that observed at 1300 °C. This work complements earlier work by identifying the inversion domains, which incorporate Mg, and points to the benefits, in terms of defect density and p-type dopant activation, of using higher temperature (>1400 °C) annealing cycles to activate Mg in GaN, even if the Mg-containing inversion domains had been formed during lower temperature annealing.}, number={2}, journal={JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS}, author={Huynh, K. and Wang, Y. and Liao, M. E. and Tweedie, J. and Reddy, P. and Breckenridge, M. H. and Collazo, R. and Sitar, Z. and Sierakowski, K. and Bockowski, M. and et al.}, year={2024}, month={Jan} } @article{stein_khachariya_mita_breckenridge_tweedie_reddy_sierakowski_kamler_bockowski_kohn_et al._2023, title={Schottky contacts on ultra-high-pressure-annealed GaN with high rectification ratio and near-unity ideality factor}, volume={16}, ISSN={["1882-0786"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85151776292&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.35848/1882-0786/acc443}, abstractNote={Abstract We investigate the electrical characteristics of Ni Schottky contacts on n-type GaN films that have undergone ultra-high-pressure annealing (UHPA), a key processing step for activating implanted Mg. Contacts deposited on these films exhibit low rectification and high leakage current compared to contacts on as-grown films. By employing an optimized surface treatment to restore the GaN surface following UHPA, we obtain Schottky contacts with a high rectification ratio of ∼109, a near-unity ideality factor of 1.03, and a barrier height of ∼0.9 eV. These characteristics enable the development of GaN junction barrier Schottky diodes employing Mg implantation and UHPA.}, number={3}, journal={APPLIED PHYSICS EXPRESS}, author={Stein, Shane R. and Khachariya, Dolar and Mita, Seiji and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Tweedie, James and Reddy, Pramod and Sierakowski, Kacper and Kamler, Grzegorz and Bockowski, Michal and Kohn, Erhard and et al.}, year={2023}, month={Mar} } @article{bagheri_klump_washiyama_breckenridge_kim_guan_khachariya_quinones-garcia_sarkar_rathkanthiwar_et al._2022, title={Doping and compensation in heavily Mg doped Al-rich AlGaN films}, volume={120}, ISSN={["1077-3118"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85125675471&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1063/5.0082992}, abstractNote={Record low resistivities of 10 and 30 Ω cm and room-temperature free hole concentrations as high as 3 × 1018 cm−3 were achieved in bulk doping of Mg in Al0.6Ga0.4N films grown on AlN single crystalline wafer and sapphire. The highly conductive films exhibited a low ionization energy of 50 meV and impurity band conduction. Both high Mg concentration (>2 × 1019 cm−3) and low compensation were required to achieve impurity band conduction and high p-type conductivity. The formation of VN-related compensators was actively suppressed by chemical potential control during the deposition process. This work overcomes previous limitations in p-type aluminum gallium nitride (p-AlGaN) and offers a technologically viable solution to high p-conductivity in AlGaN and AlN.}, number={8}, journal={APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS}, author={Bagheri, Pegah and Klump, Andrew and Washiyama, Shun and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Kim, Ji Hyun and Guan, Yan and Khachariya, Dolar and Quinones-Garcia, Cristyan and Sarkar, Biplab and Rathkanthiwar, Shashwat and et al.}, year={2022}, month={Feb} } @article{reddy_mecouch_breckenridge_khachariya_bagheri_kim_guan_mita_moody_tweedie_et al._2022, title={Large-Area, Solar-Blind, Sub-250 nm Detection AlGaN Avalanche Photodiodes Grown on AlN Substrates}, volume={3}, ISSN={["1862-6270"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1002/pssr.202100619}, DOI={10.1002/pssr.202100619}, abstractNote={Herein, Al‐rich AlGaN‐based avalanche photodiodes (APDs) grown on single crystal AlN substrates high ultraviolet‐C sensitivity for λ < 200 nm are fabricated, while exhibiting blindness to λ > 250 nm. A maximum quantum efficiency of 68% and peak gain of 320 000 are estimated resulting in a figure of merit of ≈220 000 in devices with ϕ = 100 μm. As expected, a decrease in gain with increase in device size is observed and a gain of ≈20 000 is estimated in devices with ϕ = 400 μm. Overall, two orders of magnitude higher performance are observed in APDs on single crystal AlN substrates compared to those on sapphire.}, number={6}, journal={PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI-RAPID RESEARCH LETTERS}, publisher={Wiley}, author={Reddy, Pramod and Mecouch, Will and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Khachariya, Dolar and Bagheri, Pegah and Kim, Ji Hyun and Guan, Yan and Mita, Seiji and Moody, Baxter and Tweedie, James and et al.}, year={2022}, month={Mar} } @article{khachariya_mita_reddy_dangi_dycus_bagheri_breckenridge_sengupta_rathkanthiwar_kirste_et al._2022, title={Record >10 MV/cm mesa breakdown fields in Al0.85Ga0.15N/Al0.6Ga0.4N high electron mobility transistors on native AlN substrates}, volume={120}, ISSN={["1077-3118"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85129328252&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1063/5.0083966}, abstractNote={The ultra-wide bandgap of Al-rich AlGaN is expected to support a significantly larger breakdown field compared to GaN, but the reported performance thus far has been limited by the use of foreign substrates. In this Letter, the material and electrical properties of Al0.85Ga0.15N/Al0.6Ga0.4N high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) grown on a 2-in. single crystal AlN substrate are investigated, and it is demonstrated that native AlN substrates unlock the potential for Al-rich AlGaN to sustain large fields in such devices. We further study how Ohmic contacts made directly to a Si-doped channel layer reduce the knee voltage and increase the output current density. High-quality AlGaN growth is confirmed via scanning transmission electron microscopy, which also reveals the absence of metal penetration at the Ohmic contact interface and is in contrast to established GaN HEMT technology. Two-terminal mesa breakdown characteristics with 1.3 μm separation possess a record-high breakdown field strength of ∼11.5 MV/cm for an undoped Al0.6Ga0.4N-channel layer. The breakdown voltages for three-terminal devices measured with gate-drain distances of 4 and 9 μm are 850 and 1500 V, respectively.}, number={17}, journal={APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS}, author={Khachariya, Dolar and Mita, Seiji and Reddy, Pramod and Dangi, Saroj and Dycus, J. Houston and Bagheri, Pegah and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Sengupta, Rohan and Rathkanthiwar, Shashwat and Kirste, Ronny and et al.}, year={2022}, month={Apr} } @article{khachariya_stein_mecouch_breckenridge_rathkanthiwar_mita_moody_reddy_tweedie_kirste_et al._2022, title={Vertical GaN junction barrier Schottky diodes with near-ideal performance using Mg implantation activated by ultra-high-pressure annealing}, volume={15}, ISSN={["1882-0786"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85139392288&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.35848/1882-0786/ac8f81}, abstractNote={Abstract We report a kV class, low ON-resistance, vertical GaN junction barrier Schottky (JBS) diode with selective-area p-regions formed via Mg implantation followed by high-temperature, ultra-high pressure (UHP) post-implantation activation anneal. The JBS has an ideality factor of 1.03, a turn-on voltage of 0.75 V, and a specific differential ON-resistance of 0.6 mΩ·cm2. The breakdown voltage of the JBS diode is 915 V, corresponding to a maximum electric field of 3.3 MV cm−1. These results underline that high-performance GaN JBS can be realized using Mg implantation and high-temperature UHP post-activation anneal.}, number={10}, journal={APPLIED PHYSICS EXPRESS}, author={Khachariya, Dolar and Stein, Shane and Mecouch, Will and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Rathkanthiwar, Shashwat and Mita, Seiji and Moody, Baxter and Reddy, Pramod and Tweedie, James and Kirste, Ronny and et al.}, year={2022}, month={Oct} } @article{breckenridge_tweedie_reddy_guan_bagheri_szymanski_mita_sierakowski_bockowski_collazo_et al._2021, title={High Mg activation in implanted GaN by high temperature and ultrahigh pressure annealing}, volume={118}, ISSN={["1077-3118"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0038628}, DOI={10.1063/5.0038628}, abstractNote={We demonstrate high p-type conductivity and hole concentrations >1018 cm−3 in Mg-implanted GaN. The implantation was performed at room temperature and by post-implantation annealing at 1 GPa of N2 and in a temperature range of 1200–1400 °C. The high pressure thermodynamically stabilized the GaN surface without the need of a capping layer. We introduce a “diffusion budget,” related to the diffusion length, as a convenient engineering parameter for comparing samples annealed at different temperatures and for different times. Although damage recovery, as measured by XRD, was achieved at relatively low diffusion budgets, these samples did not show p-type conductivity. Further analyses showed heavy compensation by the implantation-induced defects. Higher diffusion budgets resulted in a low Mg ionization energy (∼115 meV) and almost complete Mg activation. For even higher diffusion budgets, we observed significant loss of Mg to the surface and a commensurate reduction in the hole conductivity. High compensation at low diffusion budgets and loss of Mg at high diffusion budgets present a unique challenge for shallow implants. A direct control of the formation of compensating defects arising from the implantation damage may be necessary to achieve both hole conductivity and low Mg diffusion.}, number={2}, journal={APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS}, publisher={AIP Publishing}, author={Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Tweedie, James and Reddy, Pramod and Guan, Yan and Bagheri, Pegah and Szymanski, Dennis and Mita, Seiji and Sierakowski, Kacper and Bockowski, Michal and Collazo, Ramon and et al.}, year={2021}, month={Jan} } @article{breckenridge_bagheri_guo_sarkar_khachariya_pavlidis_tweedie_kirste_mita_reddy_et al._2021, title={High n-type conductivity and carrier concentration in Si-implanted homoepitaxial AlN}, volume={118}, ISSN={["1077-3118"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0042857}, DOI={10.1063/5.0042857}, abstractNote={We demonstrate Si-implanted AlN with high conductivity (>1 Ω−1 cm−1) and high carrier concentration (5 × 1018 cm−3). This was enabled by Si implantation into AlN with a low threading dislocation density (TDD) (<103 cm−2), a non-equilibrium damage recovery and dopant activation annealing process, and in situ suppression of self-compensation during the annealing. Low TDD and active suppression of VAl-nSiAl complexes via defect quasi Fermi level control enabled low compensation, while low-temperature, non-equilibrium annealing maintained the desired shallow donor state with an ionization energy of ∼70 meV. The realized n-type conductivity and carrier concentration are over one order of magnitude higher than that reported thus far and present a major technological breakthrough in doping of AlN.}, number={11}, journal={APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS}, author={Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Bagheri, Pegah and Guo, Qiang and Sarkar, Biplab and Khachariya, Dolar and Pavlidis, Spyridon and Tweedie, James and Kirste, Ronny and Mita, Seiji and Reddy, Pramod and et al.}, year={2021}, month={Mar} } @article{khachariya_szymanski_breckenridge_reddy_kohn_sitar_collazo_pavlidis_2021, title={On the characteristics of N-polar GaN Schottky barrier contacts with LPCVD SiN interlayers}, volume={118}, ISSN={["1077-3118"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0039888}, DOI={10.1063/5.0039888}, abstractNote={We study the behavior of N-polar GaN Schottky diodes with low-pressure chemical vapor deposited (LPCVD) SiN interlayers and unveil the important role of an amphoteric miniband formed in this interlayer due to a previously identified and dominating Si dangling bond defect. Through analysis of temperature-dependent current–voltage (I–V–T), capacitance–voltage (C–V), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements, we observe that when nickel is deposited on LPCVD SiN pretreated with hydrofluoric acid, the SiN/GaN interface is responsible for determining the overall system's barrier height. By contrast, contact formation on oxidized LPCVD SiN leads to a metal/SiN-dominant barrier. We, consequently, propose band diagrams that account for an amphoteric miniband in LPCVD SiN, leading to a new understanding of LPCVD SiN as a lossy dielectric with surface barrier-dependent behavior.}, number={12}, journal={APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS}, author={Khachariya, Dolar and Szymanski, Dennis and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Reddy, Pramod and Kohn, Erhard and Sitar, Zlatko and Collazo, Ramon and Pavlidis, Spyridon}, year={2021}, month={Mar} } @article{washiyama_mirrielees_bagheri_baker_kim_guo_kirste_guan_breckenridge_klump_et al._2021, title={Self-compensation in heavily Ge doped AlGaN: A comparison to Si doping}, volume={118}, ISSN={["1077-3118"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85100243430&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1063/5.0035957}, abstractNote={Self-compensation in Ge- and Si-doped Al0.3Ga0.7N has been investigated in terms of the formation of III vacancy and donor-vacancy complexes. Both Ge- and Si-doped AlGaN layers showed a compensation knee behavior with impurity compensation (low doping regime), compensation plateau (medium doping regime), and self-compensation (high doping regime). A maximum free carrier concentration of 4–5 × 1019 cm−3 was obtained by Ge doping, whereas Si doping resulted in only half of that value, ∼2 × 1019 cm−3. A DFT calculation with the grand canonical thermodynamics model was developed to support the hypothesis that the difference in self-compensation arises from the difference in the formation energies of the VIII-n•donor complexes relative to their onsite configurations. The model suggested that the VIII-2•donor and VIII-3•donor complexes were responsible for self-compensation for both Ge- and Si-doped AlGaN. However, a lower free carrier concentration in Si-doped samples was due to a high VIII-3•Si concentration, resulting from a lower energy of formation of VIII-3•Si.}, number={4}, journal={APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS}, author={Washiyama, Shun and Mirrielees, Kelsey J. and Bagheri, Pegah and Baker, Jonathon N. and Kim, Ji-Hyun and Guo, Qiang and Kirste, Ronny and Guan, Yan and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Klump, Andrew J. and et al.}, year={2021}, month={Jan} } @article{reddy_khachariya_mecouch_breckenridge_bagheri_guan_kim_pavlidis_kirste_mita_et al._2021, title={Study on avalanche breakdown and Poole-Frenkel emission in Al-rich AlGaN grown on single crystal AlN}, volume={119}, ISSN={["1077-3118"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0062831}, DOI={10.1063/5.0062831}, abstractNote={We demonstrate that theoretical breakdown fields can be realized in practically dislocation free Al-rich AlGaN p-n junctions grown on AlN single crystal substrates. Furthermore, we also demonstrate a leakage current density in AlGaN that is independent of the device area, indicating a bulk leakage phenomenon and not surface or mesa-edge related. Accordingly, we identified the Poole–Frenkel emission from two types of point-defect traps in AlGaN as the primary source of reverse leakage before breakdown. Mg-doped AlGaN exhibited leakage currents due to a shallow trap at ∼0.16 eV in contrast with leakage currents observed in Si-doped AlGaN due to a deep trap at ∼1.8 eV.}, number={18}, journal={APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS}, author={Reddy, Pramod and Khachariya, Dolar and Mecouch, Will and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Bagheri, Pegah and Guan, Yan and Kim, Ji Hyun and Pavlidis, Spyridon and Kirste, Ronny and Mita, Seiji and et al.}, year={2021}, month={Nov} } @article{wang_huynh_liao_yu_bai_tweedie_breckenridge_collazo_sitar_bockowski_et al._2020, title={Strain Recovery and Defect Characterization in Mg-Implanted Homoepitaxial GaN on High-Quality GaN Substrates}, volume={257}, ISSN={["1521-3951"]}, DOI={10.1002/pssb.201900705}, abstractNote={The evolution of defects due to high‐pressure annealing of magnesium ion‐implanted epitaxial GaN grown on high‐quality GaN substrates is investigated. Changes in the implant‐induced strain are quantified as a function of annealing temperature and time. After annealing at 1300 °C for 10 min, the implant‐induced strain is fully relieved and accompanied by the presence of extended defects such as basal plane stacking faults and prismatic loops. Approximately one‐third of the original implant‐induced strain remains after annealing at 700 °C, and 5% of the original strain remains at 1000 °C for 100 min. In all cases, nearly all of the recovered strain occurs within first few minutes of annealing. A prominent increase in the asymmetric (104) triple axis X‐ray rocking curve full width at 0.01 maximum (FW0.01M) is observed after annealing at 1300 °C for 10 min. After annealing at 1300 °C for 100 min, a subsequent decrease in FW0.01M is correlated with a reduction of the extended defect density from 4 × 108 to 3 × 107 cm−2, determined through transmission electron microscope (TEM) measurements. Further reduction in the density of the extended defects by optimizing annealing temperature and time is expected to improve the performance of GaN‐based vertical power devices.}, number={4}, journal={PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI B-BASIC SOLID STATE PHYSICS}, author={Wang, Yekan and Huynh, Kenny and Liao, Michael E. and Yu, Hsuan-Ming and Bai, Tingyu and Tweedie, James and Breckenridge, Mathew Hayden and Collazo, Ramon and Sitar, Zlatko and Bockowski, Michal and et al.}, year={2020}, month={Apr} } @article{guo_kirste_mita_tweedie_reddy_washiyama_breckenridge_collazo_sitar_2019, title={The polarization field in Al-rich AlGaN multiple quantum wells}, volume={58}, ISSN={["1347-4065"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85070745479&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.7567/1347-4065/ab07a9}, abstractNote={Abstract This paper investigates the quantum confined Stark effect in AlGaN multiple quantum well structures with a high Al content grown on single-crystalline AlN substrates. The quantitative relationship between the quantum well structure parameters, photogenerated carrier density, built-in electric field and ground-level emission is discussed. It is found that the electric field strength increases from 0.5 MV cm−1 to almost 3 MV cm−1 when the Al content in the quantum well barriers is increased from 65% to 100%, which is consistent with the theory of spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization in III-nitrides. In addition, the built-in electric field increases significantly with increasing barrier thickness. Based on these results, the electric field in an Al0.55Ga0.45N single quantum well with AlN cladding is predicted to be around 5 MV cm−1.}, number={SC}, journal={JAPANESE JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS}, author={Guo, Qiang and Kirste, Ronny and Mita, Seiji and Tweedie, James and Reddy, Pramod and Washiyama, Shun and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Collazo, Ramon and Sitar, Zlatko}, year={2019}, month={Jun} } @article{bryan_bryan_washiyama_reddy_gaddy_sarkar_breckenridge_guo_bobea_tweedie_et al._2018, title={Doping and compensation in Al-rich AlGaN grown on single crystal AlN and sapphire by MOCVD}, volume={112}, ISSN={["1077-3118"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5011984}, DOI={10.1063/1.5011984}, abstractNote={In order to understand the influence of dislocations on doping and compensation in Al-rich AlGaN, thin films were grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on different templates on sapphire and low dislocation density single crystalline AlN. AlGaN grown on AlN exhibited the highest conductivity, carrier concentration, and mobility for any doping concentration due to low threading dislocation related compensation and reduced self-compensation. The onset of self-compensation, i.e., the “knee behavior” in conductivity, was found to depend only on the chemical potential of silicon, strongly indicating the cation vacancy complex with Si as the source of self-compensation. However, the magnitude of self-compensation was found to increase with an increase in dislocation density, and consequently, AlGaN grown on AlN substrates demonstrated higher conductivity over the entire doping range.}, number={6}, journal={APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS}, publisher={AIP Publishing}, author={Bryan, Isaac and Bryan, Zachary and Washiyama, Shun and Reddy, Pramod and Gaddy, Benjamin and Sarkar, Biplab and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Guo, Qiang and Bobea, Milena and Tweedie, James and et al.}, year={2018}, month={Feb} } @inproceedings{sarkar_reddy_klump_rounds_breckenridge_haidet_mita_kirste_collazo_sitar_2018, title={On Contacts to III-nitride deep-UV emitters}, volume={2018-January}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/icmap.2018.8354575}, DOI={10.1109/icmap.2018.8354575}, abstractNote={Although contacts to III-nitride visible and UV-A based emitters has been well explored, understanding the contacts to III-nitride deep-UV emitters have attracted research attention recently. Owing to the wide bandgap, both n-type and p-type contact metallization techniques result in a Schottky barrier at the metal-semiconductor interface. A way to reduce the contact resistance is to achieve a higher free carrier concentration in the epitaxial layer. As a result, growth of III-nitride epitaxial layers on native substrates are providing pathways for significant performance improvement. However, understanding the contacts to deep-UV emitters grown on native substrates are necessary to allow further performance improvement.}, booktitle={2018 3rd International Conference on Microwave and Photonics (ICMAP)}, author={Sarkar, B. and Reddy, P. and Klump, A. and Rounds, R. and Breckenridge, M. R. and Haidet, B. B. and Mita, S. and Kirste, R. and Collazo, Ramon and Sitar, Z.}, year={2018}, pages={1–2} } @article{reddy_washiyama_mecouch_hernandez-balderrama_kaess_breckenridge_sarkar_haidet_franke_kohn_et al._2018, title={Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of SiO2 and SiNx on AlGaN: Band offsets and interface studies as a function of Al composition}, volume={36}, ISSN={["1520-8559"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85056257074&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1116/1.5050501}, abstractNote={In this work, the authors characterized the interface of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) dielectrics, SiO2 and SiNx with AlGaN as a function of Al composition. SiO2 is found to exhibit type I straddled band alignment with positive conduction and valence band offsets for all Al compositions. However, the interface Fermi level is found to be pinned within the bandgap, indicating a significant density of interface states. Hence, SiO2 is found to be suitable for insulating layers or electrical isolation on AlGaN with breakdown fields between 4.5 and 6.5 MV cm−1, but an additional passivating interlayer between SiO2 and AlGaN is necessary for passivation on Al-rich AlGaN. In contrast, Si-rich PECVD SiNx is found to exhibit type II staggered band alignment with positive conduction band offsets and negative valence band offsets for Al compositions <40% and type I straddled band alignment with negative conduction and valence band offsets for Al compositions >40% and is, hence, found to be unsuitable for insulating layers or electrical isolation on Al-rich AlGaN in general. In contrast to passivating stoichiometric LPCVD Si3N4, no evidence for interface state reduction by depositing SiNx on AlGaN is observed.}, number={6}, journal={JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY A}, author={Reddy, Pramod and Washiyama, Shun and Mecouch, Will and Hernandez-Balderrama, Luis H. and Kaess, Felix and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Sarkar, Biplab and Haidet, Brian B. and Franke, Alexander and Kohn, Erhard and et al.}, year={2018}, month={Nov} } @article{blumenschein_slomski_paskov_kaess_breckenridge_muth_paskova_2018, title={Thermal conductivity of bulk and thin film beta-Ga2O3 measured by the 3 omega technique}, volume={10533}, ISSN={["1996-756X"]}, DOI={10.1117/12.2288267}, abstractNote={Thermal conductivity of undoped and Sn-doped β-Ga2O3 bulk and single-crystalline thin films have been measured by the 3ω technique. The bulk samples were grown by edge-defined film-field growth (EFG) method, while the thin films were grown on c-plane sapphire by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD). All samples were with (-201) surface orientation. Thermal conductivity of bulk samples was calculated along the in-plane and cross-plane crystallographic directions, yielding a maximum value of ~ 29 W/m-K in the [010] direction at room temperature. A slight thermal conductivity decrease was observed in the Sn-doped bulk samples, which was attributed to enhanced phonon-impurity scattering. The differential 3ω method was used for β-Ga2O3 thin film samples due to the small film thickness. Results show that both undoped and Sndoped films have a much lower thermal conductivity than that of the bulk samples, which is consistent with previous reports in the literature showing a linear relationship between thermal conductivity and film thickness. Similarly to bulk samples, Sn-doped thin films have exhibited a thermal conductivity decrease. However, this decrease was found to be much greater in thin film samples, and increased with Sn doping concentration. A correlation between thermal conductivity and defect/dislocation density was made for the undoped thin films.}, journal={OXIDE-BASED MATERIALS AND DEVICES IX}, author={Blumenschein, N. and Slomski, M. and Paskov, P. P. and Kaess, F. and Breckenridge, M. H. and Muth, J. F. and Paskova, T.}, year={2018} } @article{reddy_washiyama_kaess_breckenridge_hernandez-balderrama_haidet_alden_franke_sarkar_kohn_et al._2016, title={High temperature and low pressure chemical vapor deposition of silicon nitride on AlGaN: Band offsets and passivation studies}, volume={119}, ISSN={["1089-7550"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4945775}, DOI={10.1063/1.4945775}, abstractNote={In this work, we employed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the band offsets and interface Fermi level at the heterojunction formed by stoichiometric silicon nitride deposited on AlxGa1-xN (of varying Al composition “x”) via low pressure chemical vapor deposition. Silicon nitride is found to form a type II staggered band alignment with AlGaN for all Al compositions (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) and present an electron barrier into AlGaN even at higher Al compositions, where Eg(AlGaN) > Eg(Si3N4). Further, no band bending is observed in AlGaN for x ≤ 0.6 and a reduced band bending (by ∼1 eV in comparison to that at free surface) is observed for x > 0.6. The Fermi level in silicon nitride is found to be at 3 eV with respect to its valence band, which is likely due to silicon (≡Si0/−1) dangling bonds. The presence of band bending for x > 0.6 is seen as a likely consequence of Fermi level alignment at Si3N4/AlGaN hetero-interface and not due to interface states. Photoelectron spectroscopy results are corroborated by current-voltage-temperature and capacitance-voltage measurements. A shift in the interface Fermi level (before band bending at equilibrium) from the conduction band in Si3N4/n-GaN to the valence band in Si3N4/p-GaN is observed, which strongly indicates a reduction in mid-gap interface states. Hence, stoichiometric silicon nitride is found to be a feasible passivation and dielectric insulation material for AlGaN at any composition.}, number={14}, journal={JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS}, publisher={AIP Publishing}, author={Reddy, Pramod and Washiyama, Shun and Kaess, Felix and Breckenridge, M. Hayden and Hernandez-Balderrama, Luis H. and Haidet, Brian B. and Alden, Dorian and Franke, Alexander and Sarkar, Biplab and Kohn, Erhard and et al.}, year={2016}, month={Apr} }