Ohmic contacts

Common techniques to make ohmic

contacts
Choose metal so that its work function
Fmetal is close to that of semiconductors
Fsemi (thermal ionic)
Insert thin layer of narrow bandgap
material between metal and
semiconductor
Increase the doping level near the
semiconductor surface as high as
possible (tunneling assisted)
Ohmic contacts should be
Low contact resistance (< 10-6 cm2)
Thermally stable (does not degrade at
elevated temperature or react with
oxygen), which requires no phase
change or no phase change leading to
high resistance
Smooth morphology
Compatibility with the whole device
process
Both semiconductors and metal
sources should be CLEAN!
Michaelson, IBM J. of R&D, 1978

Slide # 1
 Common Techniques for Ohmic contacts
(i) Ohmic contact by band alignment
Evac
Evac B = S - M
EF
M M < +Ec-EF = S
For n-type
n doped
EF semiconductor.
Reverse for p-type B = band bending

(ii) Ohmic contact by high doping

Usually for compound semiconductors Electrons from
the ohmic contact by band alignment is n-doped
hard to realize due to surface states and conduction band
Fermi pinning. For p-type, the problem can move very
is caused by unavailability of metals easily to the
with large enough work function metal and vice
n+ doped
High n-type doping required for ohmic versa by
contacts to n-type semiconductors,
which can also be realized by interfacial tunneling
layer reaction chemistry
Slide # 2
 Ohmic on n-GaN
Possible metals: Ag, Nb, Ti, Al, In, Ta, Cr
Ag: poor adhesion
Nb: extremely easy to oxidize thus difficult to
process
Ti: formation of TiN (intermetallic) and high N
vacancies in GaN -> good! But easy to
oxidize need a stable cap like Au
Al: formation of AlN (not intermetallic) and high
N vacancies in GaN -> ok! Also easy to
oxidize Au cap is necessary
In: most popularly used for quick contacts
Ta: studied by Qiao et al. 5.7e10-7 cm2 on
AlGaN/GaN (2001); but others could not
reproduce the results
Others: also studied but not as good as the
one below
As deposited or alloy: generally alloyed unless
doping near the surface is very high!
Popular schemes: Ti/Al/Ni/Au
Ti/Al bilayer: formation of N vacancies, TiN,
Al3Ti (thermally very stable ); but ratio of Ti/Al
has to be carefully controlled (~1/2.5) 
Add high conductive and protective layer of Au,
but Au diffuses easily
Add Ni as diffusion barrier (decent, other Lim et al, APL 78, 3797(2001)
metals were tried, Pd and Pt were worse)
State-of-art: 0.1-0.2 cm2 (~ 10-8 cm2 ) Liu et al, Solid State Electronics, 42, 677(1998)

Slide # 3
 Schottky contacts
Evac Evac
Schottky contacts are
formed when
M s
 Doping in the
semiconductor is not very EF
high i.e. > ~5x1018 cm-3
 The metal work function is
greater than the n- type
semiconductor work M > +Ec-EF = S
function For n-type semiconductor and
 The metal work function is reverse for p-type
lower than p-type Bn = Schottky contact Electrons from
semiconductor work conduction band
function M - or in the metal
 Very high density of faces barrier to
surface states pinning the n doped free movement,
Fermi level at the surface and tunneling is
w.r.t. the conduction band also not easy
(Example: GaAs)
Slide # 4
Conduction mechanisms in schottky contacts
Thermionic emission
Electrons emit over the barrier
Low probability of direct tunneling
Valid for low doping (ND < ~ 1017 cm-3)

Thermionic-field emission
Electrons use thermal energy to tunnel trough the
thin barrier in the upper end of the conduction
band
Valid for intermediate doping (~ 1017 cm-3 < ND <
~ 1018 cm-3)

Field emission
Direct tunneling, as depletion region is very narrow
Valid for heavy doping (ND > ~ 1018 cm-3); almost
ohmic

Leakage current
High probability of defect-assisted tunneling and
simple conduction
Occurs in poor material/interface quality; dislocations
Slide # 5
 Thermionic emission current: Schottky diode
I-V characteristics
Typical I-V Forward bias Reverse bias
characteristics

Schottky diode I-V equation:

J = J0 (e qV / kT 1), where J0 is the
saturation current density given by
q
J o = A*T 2 exp Bn T = temperature, A* = effective Richardsons constant
kT
Slide # 6
 Schottky on n-GaN
Experimentally shown
very weak surface
pinning
Surface cleanness has
been heavily
investigated, however
External cleaning is
generally sufficient to
achieve decent
Schottky
Leakage is largely due
to dislocations
Thermal stability is
IMPORTANT
Ni does not react with
GaN below ~ 600 C
Pd reacts with GaN at ~
400-500 C
W and Rd ~ 600 C Liu et al, Solid State Electronics, 42, 677(1998)

The higher the schottky barrier, the lower

the leakage current
Using polarization in nitrides i.e.
GaN/AlGaN/GaN structure, the schottky
barrier can be made larger
Slide # 7
 Electrical properties of dislocations in MBE-grown n-GaN
(Ed Yu --- UCSD)
Pure screw dislocations can be highly conductive in MBE-grown n-GaN:

topography: current:

1m 1m

[E. J. Miller, D. M. Schaadt, E. T. Yu, C. Poblenz, C. Elsass, J. Speck, J. Appl. Phys. 91, 9821 (2002).]

Edge and mixed dislocations typically contain negative charge in dislocation core:

high current leakage

in Schottky contacts
Screw: conducting, uncharged
Edge: nonconducting , e charge
Mixed: nonconducting, e charge scattering, local
carrier depletion

[B.S. Simpkins, E.T. Yu, P. Waltereit, J.S. Speck, J. Appl. Phys. 94, 1448 (2003).]
Slide # 8
 Mitigation of dislocation-induced leakage
currents in MBE n-GaN (Ed Yu, UCSD)

AFM AFM

AFM

2m 2m

current current

1m
current NaOH solution V = 30V
pH = 13.1 I ~ 1-10mA
T = 30C t = 1000s ~100pA
~10A
b = 0.800.02V
with electrochemical n = 1.740.01
1m process
b = 0.860.02V
n = 1.130.02
AFM
unmodified

area = 1.2310-4cm2

1m [E. J. Miller, D. M. Schaadt, E. T. Yu, P. Waltereit, C. Poblenz, and J. S. Speck, Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 1293 (2003).]
Slide # 9
 Ohmic to p-GaN
Similar techniques like
ohmic to n-GaN have
been tried, but:
rC~ 10-3 cm2
P-GaN/Ni/Au annealed in
air (N2/O2) proved to be
one of the best:
rC~ 10-6 cm2
Why?
After annealing, new
phases form: NiO, Ni-
Ga-O with Au particles,
GaN
NiO is p-semiconductor
with high Ni vacancies
Continuing challenges:
Transparency to visible
and UV
Ohmic to p-AlGaN
Tunneling junction
contacts
Ho et al. JAP 85, 4491 (1999)
Slide # 10
 Another Contact Metal for p-GaN
The absence of a metal with a sufficiently high work function. The band gap of
GaN is 3.4 eV, and the electron affinity is 4.1 eV, but metal work functions are
typically ~ 5 eV
The relatively low hole concentrations in p-GaN due to the deep ionization level of
the Mg acceptor ~170 meV
The tendency for the preferential loss of nitrogen from the GaN surface during
processing, which may produce surface conversion to n-type conductivity.

TEM
image

Palladium gallide creates Ga vacancies that

reduce contact resistances
Temperature and time of anneal also important
Slide # 11
 Schottky to p-GaN

Schottky (Ni) on as grown GaN:Mg (MOCVD) --- quasi-ohmic (higher Mg near the surface?)
Schottky (Ni) on etched GaN:Mg --- rectifying (tunneling and defect-assisted tunneling still
significant thus it is difficult to extract barrier height and Richardson constant from I-V)
Slide # 12
 Schottky contact characterization
Current-Voltage (IV) measurements
q Bn
kT A*T 2
*
J0 = A T e 2 kT . VF vs. J intercept gives J0 and Bn = ln
q J 0

Capacitance-Voltage (CV) measurements

2 s q s N D 1
W= (Bn V ) C = 2 (Bn V )
qN D 2( Bn V ) C

So the intercept of 1/C2 vs. V gives the barrier height

Photoelectric measurements (by photon incident
on the schottky contact; this is very accurate)
Photocurrent R is related to the barrier height as
R ~ hv qBn So the intercept gives the barrier height
Slide # 13
 Evaporation systems
Contact Metallization (Ti, Al, Ni, Au etc)
Sample
Metal Electron-Beam Evaporation System

Target Metal Source

with e-beam

Rapid Thermal Annealing System

from 20 oC to 1000 oC in seconds

Slide # 14
 Ohmic contacts: n-type or undoped nitride
Standard recipe for ohmic contact:
Ti/Al/Ti/Au or Ti/Al/Ni/Au deposition. Ti/Al thickness ratio is important
Annealing at 800 900 C for about 1 min for alloying. Alloying temperature
and alloying time are important factors controlling contact resistance.

Ti/Al/Ni/Au

Since TiN and AlN are formed by reaction

between the nitride layers and Ti or Al, N-
vacancies are created, which can dope the
contact region and create ohmic contact
Slide # 15
 Specific contact resistivity and sheet resistance
For any semiconductor device there are two main resistances:
Contact resistance d
Semiconductor resistance Z

t
Product of contact resistance Rc and area
A is called specific contact resistivity c:
1 Sometimes semiconductor resistance is
c =
J
( . cm2)
expressed in terms of sheet resistance sh
V
V =0
1
(Can also be expressed in terms of . mm) sh = = (/ )
t (e n ) t
The total semiconductor resistance is then
Semiconductor layer resistivity : given by
1 d
= ( . cm) 1 d
en Rs = dx = ()
A0 Zt
Slide # 16
 Ohmic contact characterization:
Transmission line method (TLM)
I(x) I(x+x)
L
shx/Z

V(x) c/(Zx) V(x +x)

dI V ( x) Z
=
dx c d 2 I I ( x) c
2 = 2 , where LT =
dV I I dx LT sh
= s = sh
dx Zt Z is called the transfer length.
The solution for I(x) is given as: I ( x ) = Ae x / LT + Be x / LT
Now putting the boundary condition I(x = L) = 0, and finding the
solution for V(x), we can find the contact resistance as the ratio of the
input voltage and input current as: RC = V (x = 0 ) I ( x = 0)
Slide # 17
 Transmission line method (TLM) II
C L
The contact resistance Rc is then given by: RC = coth
ZLT LT

For L >>LT , we have, RC = C Ohmics
ZLT L
When the following conditions are further Z
satisfied, d << Z and t << LT (to avoid d
t
current spreading in the sides or into the film),
sh d sh = /t
Then, RTot = 2 Rc + Rs = 2 Rc +
Z
Putting Rtot = 0, and using the relation c = Rc LT Z , we have,
d ( RT = 0) = 2 LT . So, the transfer length can be found from the
intercept of the total resistance on the x-axis.
Note that the contact resistivity is not given by the product of the
contact resistance and the total contact area, but by the product of
contact resistance, width Z, and transfer length LT.
Slide # 18
 Measurement technique
100
Typical measurement set up B1205 UV LED
n-TLM
50

Current, mA
0 4um
6um
8um
10um
-50 12um
14um
16um
-100
-2 -1 0 1 2
Voltage, V
40

B1205 UV LED
Plot of total resistance 30 n-TLM

Resistance, Ohm
vs. distance What is wrong in
20
this measurement? Y =14.51607+1.13839 X
Rc=7.258
LT=6.373um
Slope = 10
sh/Z c=6.93*10-5-cm2
Rsh=170.7/sq
0
0 5 10 15 20
gap, um
Slide # 19