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Description
III-Nitride nanostructures have been an active area of research recently due to their ability to tune their optoelectronic properties. Thus far work has been done on InGaN quantum dots, nanowires, nanopillars, amongst other structures, but this research reports the creation of a new type of InGaN nanostructure, nanorings. Hexagonal InGaN

III-Nitride nanostructures have been an active area of research recently due to their ability to tune their optoelectronic properties. Thus far work has been done on InGaN quantum dots, nanowires, nanopillars, amongst other structures, but this research reports the creation of a new type of InGaN nanostructure, nanorings. Hexagonal InGaN nanorings were formed using Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition through droplet epitaxy. The nanorings were thoroughly analyzed using x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, electron microscopy, electron diffraction, and atomic force microscopy. Nanorings with high indium incorporation were achieved with indium content up to 50% that was then controlled using the growth time, temperature, In/Ga ratio and III/N ratio. The analysis showed that the nanoring shape is able to incorporate more indium than other nanostructures, due to the relaxing mechanism involved in the formation of the nanoring. The ideal conditions were determined to be growth of 30 second droplets with a growth time of 1 minute 30 seconds at 770 C to achieve the most well developed rings with the highest indium concentration.
ContributorsZaidi, Zohair (Author) / Mahajan, Subhash (Thesis advisor) / O'Connell, Michael J (Committee member) / Krause, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) based on the III-V nitride material system have been under extensive investigation because of their superb performance as high power RF devices. Two dimensional electron gas(2-DEG) with charge density ten times higher than that of GaAs-based HEMT and mobility much higher than Si enables

GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) based on the III-V nitride material system have been under extensive investigation because of their superb performance as high power RF devices. Two dimensional electron gas(2-DEG) with charge density ten times higher than that of GaAs-based HEMT and mobility much higher than Si enables a low on-resistance required for RF devices. Self-heating issues with GaN HEMT and lack of understanding of various phenomena are hindering their widespread commercial development. There is a need to understand device operation by developing a model which could be used to optimize electrical and thermal characteristics of GaN HEMT design for high power and high frequency operation. In this thesis work a physical simulation model of AlGaN/GaN HEMT is developed using commercially available software ATLAS from SILVACO Int. based on the energy balance/hydrodynamic carrier transport equations. The model is calibrated against experimental data. Transfer and output characteristics are the key focus in the analysis along with saturation drain current. The resultant IV curves showed a close correspondence with experimental results. Various combinations of electron mobility, velocity saturation, momentum and energy relaxation times and gate work functions were attempted to improve IV curve correlation. Thermal effects were also investigated to get a better understanding on the role of self-heating effects on the electrical characteristics of GaN HEMTs. The temperature profiles across the device were observed. Hot spots were found along the channel in the gate-drain spacing. These preliminary results indicate that the thermal effects do have an impact on the electrical device characteristics at large biases even though the amount of self-heating is underestimated with respect to thermal particle-based simulations that solve the energy balance equations for acoustic and optical phonons as well (thus take proper account of the formation of the hot-spot). The decrease in drain current is due to decrease in saturation carrier velocity. The necessity of including hydrodynamic/energy balance transport models for accurate simulations is demonstrated. Possible ways for improving model accuracy are discussed in conjunction with future research.
ContributorsChowdhury, Towhid (Author) / Vasileska, Dragica (Thesis advisor) / Goodnick, Stephen (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
The goal of this research was to reduce dislocations and strain in high indium content bulk InGaN to improve quality for optical devices. In an attempt to achieve this goal, InGaN pillars were grown with compositions that matched the composition of the bulk InGaN grown on top. Pillar height and

The goal of this research was to reduce dislocations and strain in high indium content bulk InGaN to improve quality for optical devices. In an attempt to achieve this goal, InGaN pillars were grown with compositions that matched the composition of the bulk InGaN grown on top. Pillar height and density were optimized to facilitate coalescence on top of the pillars. It was expected that dislocations within the pillars would bend to side facets, thereby reducing the dislocation density in the bulk overgrowth, however this was not observed. It was also expected that pillars would be completely relaxed at the interface with the substrate. It was shown that pillars are mostly relaxed, but not completely. Mechanisms are proposed to explain why threading dislocations did not bend and how complete relaxation may have been achieved by mechanisms outside of interfacial misfit dislocation formation. Phase separation was not observed by TEM but may be related to the limitations of the sample or measurements. High indium observed at facets and stacking faults could be related to the extra photoluminescence peaks measured. This research focused on the InGaN pillars and first stages of coalescence on top of the pillars, saving bulk growth and device optimization for future research.
ContributorsMcFelea, Heather Dale (Author) / Mahajan, Subhash (Thesis advisor) / Arena, Chantal (Committee member) / Carpenter, Ray (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
Owing to their special characteristics, group III-Nitride semiconductors have attracted special attention for their application in a wide range of optoelectronic devices. Of particular interest are their direct and wide band gaps that span from ultraviolet to the infrared wavelengths. In addition, their stronger bonds relative to the other compound

Owing to their special characteristics, group III-Nitride semiconductors have attracted special attention for their application in a wide range of optoelectronic devices. Of particular interest are their direct and wide band gaps that span from ultraviolet to the infrared wavelengths. In addition, their stronger bonds relative to the other compound semiconductors makes them thermally more stable, which provides devices with longer life time. However, the lattice mismatch between these semiconductors and their substrates cause the as-grown films to have high dislocation densities, reducing the life time of devices that contain these materials. One possible solution for this problem is to substitute single crystal semiconductor nanowires for epitaxial films. Due to their dimensionality, semiconductor nanowires typically have stress-free surfaces and better physical properties. In order to employ semiconductor nanowires as building blocks for nanoscale devices, a precise control of the nanowires' crystallinity, morphology, and chemistry is necessary. This control can be achieved by first developing a deeper understanding of the processes involved in the synthesis of nanowires, and then by determining the effects of temperature and pressure on their growth. This dissertation focuses on understanding of the growth processes involved in the formation of GaN nanowires. Nucleation and growth events were observed in situ and controlled in real-time using an environmental transmission electron microscope. These observations provide a satisfactory elucidation of the underlying growth mechanism during the formation of GaN nanowires. Nucleation of these nanowires appears to follow the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism. However, nanowire growth is found to follow both the vapor-liquid-solid and vapor-solid-solid mechanisms. Direct evidence of the effects of III/V ratio on nanowire growth is also reported, which provides important information for tailoring the synthesis of GaN nanowires. These findings suggest in situ electron microscopy is a powerful tool to understand the growth of GaN nanowires and also that these experimental approach can be extended to study other binary semiconductor compound such as GaP, GaAs, and InP, or even ternary compounds such as InGaN. However, further experimental work is required to fully elucidate the kinetic effects on the growth process. A better control of the growth parameters is also recommended.
ContributorsDíaz Rivas, Rosa Estela (Author) / Mahajan, Subhash (Thesis advisor) / Petuskey, William (Committee member) / Crozier, Peter (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
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Description
Gallium Nitride (GaN) is uniquely suited for Radio Frequency (RF) and power electronic applications due to its intrinsically high saturation velocity and high mobility compared to Silicon and Silicon Carbide (SiC). High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) have remained the primary topology for GaN transistors in RF applications. However, GaN HEMTs

Gallium Nitride (GaN) is uniquely suited for Radio Frequency (RF) and power electronic applications due to its intrinsically high saturation velocity and high mobility compared to Silicon and Silicon Carbide (SiC). High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) have remained the primary topology for GaN transistors in RF applications. However, GaN HEMTs suffer from a variety of issues such as current crowding, lack of enhancement mode (E-Mode) operation and non-linearity. These drawbacks slow the widespread adoption of GaN devices for ultra-low voltage (ULV) applications such as voltage regulators, automotive and computing applications. E-mode operation is especially desired in low-voltage high frequency switching applications. In this context, Fin Field Effect Transistors (FinFETs) offer an alternative topology for ULV applications as opposed to conventional HEMTs. Recent advances in material processing, high aspect ratio epitaxial growth and etching methods has led to an increased interest in 3D nanostructures such as Nano-FinFETs and Nanowire FETs. A typical 3D nano-FinFET is the AlGaN/GaN Metal Insulator Semiconductor (MIS) FET wherein a layer of Al2O3 surrounds the AlGaN/GaN fin. The presence of the side gates leads to additional lateral confinement of the 2D Electron Gas (2DEG). Theoretical calculations of transport properties in confined systems such as AlGaN/GaN Finfets are scarce compared to those of their planar HEMT counterparts. A novel simulator is presented in this dissertation, which employs self-consistent solution of the coupled 1D Boltzmann – 2D Schrödinger – 3D Poisson problem, to yield the channel electrostatics and the low electric field transport characteristics of AlGaN/GaN MIS FinFETs. The low field electron mobility is determined by solving the Boltzmann transport equation in the Quasi-1D region using 1D Ensemble Monte Carlo method. Three electron-phonon scattering mechanisms (acoustic, piezoelectric and polar optical phonon scattering) and interface roughness scattering at the AlGaN/GaN interface are considered in this theoretical model. Simulated low-field electron mobility and its temperature dependence are in agreement with experimental data reported in the literature. A quasi-1D version of alloy clustering model is derived and implemented and the limiting effect of alloy clustering on the low-field electron mobility is investigated for the first time for MIS FinFET device structures.
ContributorsKumar, Viswanathan Naveen (Author) / Vasileska, Dragica (Thesis advisor) / Goodnick, Stephen (Committee member) / Nemanich, Robert (Committee member) / Povolotskyi, Michael (Committee member) / Esqueda, Ivan Sanchez (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
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Description
In this dissertation, atomic layer processing and surface characterization techniques were used to investigate surface conditions of wide band gap materials, gallium nitride (GaN) and gallium oxide (Ga2O3). These studies largely focused on mitigation and removal of defect formation induced by ions used in conventional plasma-based dry etching techniques. Band

In this dissertation, atomic layer processing and surface characterization techniques were used to investigate surface conditions of wide band gap materials, gallium nitride (GaN) and gallium oxide (Ga2O3). These studies largely focused on mitigation and removal of defect formation induced by ions used in conventional plasma-based dry etching techniques. Band bending measured by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to characterize charge compensation at the surface of GaN (0001) and determine densities of charged surface states produced by dry etching. Mitigation and removal of these dry-etch induced defects was investigated by varying inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching conditions, performing thermal and plasma-based treatments, and development of a novel low-damage, self-limiting atomic layer etching (ALE) process to remove damaged material. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) and ALE techniques were developed for Ga2O3 using trimethylgallium (TMG). Ga2O3 was deposited by ALD on Si using TMG and O2 plasma with a growth rate of 1.0 ± 0.1 Å/cycle. Ga2O3 films were then etched using HF and TMG using a fully thermal ALE process with an etch rate of 0.9 ± Å/cycle. O2 plasma oxidation of GaN for surface conversion to Ga2O3 was investigated as a pathway for ALE of GaN using HF and TMG. This process was characterized using XPS, in situ multi-wavelength ellipsometry, and transmission electron microscopy. This study indicated that the etch rate was lower than anticipated, which was attributed to crystallinity of the converted surface oxide on GaN (0001).
ContributorsHatch, Kevin Andrew (Author) / Nemanich, Robert J (Thesis advisor) / Ponce, Fernando A (Committee member) / Smith, David J (Committee member) / Zhao, Yuji (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
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Description
Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors GaN (3.4 eV), Ga2O3 (4.8 eV) and AlN (6.2 eV), have gained considerable interests for energy-efficient optoelectronic and electronic applications in solid-state lighting, photovoltaics, power conversion, and so on. They can offer unique device performance compared with traditional semiconductors such as Si. Efficient GaN based light-emitting

Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors GaN (3.4 eV), Ga2O3 (4.8 eV) and AlN (6.2 eV), have gained considerable interests for energy-efficient optoelectronic and electronic applications in solid-state lighting, photovoltaics, power conversion, and so on. They can offer unique device performance compared with traditional semiconductors such as Si. Efficient GaN based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have increasingly displaced incandescent and fluorescent bulbs as the new major light sources for lighting and display. In addition, due to their large bandgap and high critical electrical field, WBG semiconductors are also ideal candidates for efficient power conversion.

In this dissertation, two types of devices are demonstrated: optoelectronic and electronic devices. Commercial polar c-plane LEDs suffer from reduced efficiency with increasing current densities, knowns as “efficiency droop”, while nonpolar/semipolar LEDs exhibit a very low efficiency droop. A modified ABC model with weak phase space filling effects is proposed to explain the low droop performance, providing insights for designing droop-free LEDs. The other emerging optoelectronics is nonpolar/semipolar III-nitride intersubband transition (ISBT) based photodetectors in terahertz and far infrared regime due to the large optical phonon energy and band offset, and the potential of room-temperature operation. ISBT properties are systematically studied for devices with different structures parameters.

In terms of electronic devices, vertical GaN p-n diodes and Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with high breakdown voltages are homoepitaxially grown on GaN bulk substrates with much reduced defect densities and improved device performance. The advantages of the vertical structure over the lateral structure are multifold: smaller chip area, larger current, less sensitivity to surface states, better scalability, and smaller current dispersion. Three methods are proposed to boost the device performances: thick buffer layer design, hydrogen-plasma based edge termination technique, and multiple drift layer design. In addition, newly emerged Ga2O3 and AlN power electronics may outperform GaN devices. Because of the highly anisotropic crystal structure of Ga2O3, anisotropic electrical properties have been observed in Ga2O3 electronics. The first 1-kV-class AlN SBDs are demonstrated on cost-effective sapphire substrates. Several future topics are also proposed including selective-area doping in GaN power devices, vertical AlN power devices, and (Al,Ga,In)2O3 materials and devices.
ContributorsFu, Houqiang (Author) / Zhao, Yuji (Thesis advisor) / Vasileska, Dragica (Committee member) / Goodnick, Stephen (Committee member) / Yu, Hongbin (Committee member) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
Gallium Nitride (GaN), being a wide-bandgap semiconductor, shows its advantage over the conventional semiconductors like Silicon and Gallium Arsenide for high temperature applications, especially in the temperature range from 300°C to 600°C. Development of stable ohmic contacts to GaN with low contact resistivity has been identified as a prerequisite to

Gallium Nitride (GaN), being a wide-bandgap semiconductor, shows its advantage over the conventional semiconductors like Silicon and Gallium Arsenide for high temperature applications, especially in the temperature range from 300°C to 600°C. Development of stable ohmic contacts to GaN with low contact resistivity has been identified as a prerequisite to the success of GaN high temperature electronics. The focus of this work was primarily derived from the requirement of an appropriate metal contacts to work with GaN-based hybrid solar cell operating at high temperature.

Alloyed Ti/Al/Ni/Au contact and non-alloyed Al/Au contact were developed to form low-resistivity contacts to n-GaN and their stability at high temperature were studied. The alloyed Ti/Al/Ni/Au contact offered a specific contact resistivity (ρc) of 6×10-6 Ω·cm2 at room temperature measured the same as the temperature increased to 400°C. No significant change in ρc was observed after the contacts being subjected to 400°C, 450°C, 500°C, 550°C, and 600°C, respectively, for at least 4 hours in air. Since several device technology prefer non-alloyed contacts Al/Au metal stack was applied to form the contacts to n-type GaN. An initial ρc of 3×10-4 Ω·cm2, measured after deposition, was observed to continuously reduce under thermal stress at 400°C, 450°C, 500°C, 550°C, and 600°C, respectively, finally stabilizing at 5×10-6 Ω·cm2. Both the alloyed and non-alloyed metal contacts showed exceptional capability of stable operation at temperature as high as 600°C in air with low resistivity ~10-6 Ω·cm2, with ρc lowering for the non-alloyed contacts with high temperatures.

The p-GaN contacts showed remarkably superior ohmic behavior at elevated temperatures. Both ρc and sheet resistance (Rsh) of p-GaN decreased by a factor of 10 as the ambient temperature increased from room temperature to 390°C. The annealed Ni/Au contact showed ρc of 2×10-3 Ω·cm2 at room temperature, reduced to 1.6×10-4 Ω·cm2 at 390°C. No degradation was observed after the contacts being subjected to 450°C in air for 48 hours. Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) contacts, which has been widely used as current spreading layer in GaN-base optoelectronic devices, measured an initial ρc [the resistivity of the ITO/p-GaN interface, since the metal/ITO ρc is negligible] of 1×10-2 Ω·cm2 at room temperature. No degradation was observed after the contact being subjected to 450°C in air for 8 hours.

Accelerated life testing (ALT) was performed to further evaluate the contacts stability at high temperatures quantitatively. The ALT results showed that the annealed Ni/Au to p-GaN contacts is more stable in nitrogen ambient, with a lifetime of 2,628 hours at 450°C which is approximately 12 times longer than that at 450°C in air.
ContributorsZhao, Shirong (Author) / Chowdhury, Srabanti (Thesis advisor) / Goodnick, Stephen (Committee member) / Zhao, Yuji (Committee member) / Nemanich, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
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Description
GaN and AlGaN have shown great potential in next-generation power and RF electronics. However, these devices are limited by reliability issues such as leakage current and current collapse that result from surface and interface states on GaN and AlGaN. This dissertation, therefore, examined these electronic states, focusing on the following

GaN and AlGaN have shown great potential in next-generation power and RF electronics. However, these devices are limited by reliability issues such as leakage current and current collapse that result from surface and interface states on GaN and AlGaN. This dissertation, therefore, examined these electronic states, focusing on the following two points:

First, the surface electronic state configuration was examined with regards to the polarization bound 1013 charges/cm2 that increases with aluminum content. This large bound charge requires compensation either externally by surface states or internally by the space charge regions as relates to band bending. In this work, band bending was measured after different surface treatments of GaN and AlGaN to determine the effects of specific surface states on the electronic state configuration. Results showed oxygen-terminated N-face GaN, Ga-face GaN, and Ga-face Al0.25Ga0.75N surface were characterized by similar band bending regardless of the polarization bound charge, suggesting a Fermi level pinning state ~0.4-0.8 eV below the conduction band minimum. On oxygen-free Ga-face GaN, Al0.15Ga0.85N, Al0.25Ga0.75N, and Al0.35Ga0.65N, band bending increased slightly with aluminum content and thus did not exhibit the same pinning behavior; however, there was still significant compensating charge on these surfaces (~1013 charges/cm2). This charge is likely related to nitrogen vacancies and/or gallium dangling bonds.

In addition, this wozrk investigated the interface electronic state configuration of dielectric/GaN and AlGaN interfaces with regards to deposition conditions and aluminum content. Specifically, oxygen plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposited (PEALD) was used to deposit SiO2. Growth temperature was shown to influence the film quality, where room temperature deposition produced the highest quality films in terms of electrical breakdown. In addition, the valence band offsets (VBOs) appeared to decrease with the deposition temperature, which likely related to an electric field across the Ga2O3 interfacial layer. VBOs were also determined with respect to aluminum content at the PEALD-SiO2/AlxGa1-xN interface, giving 3.0, 2.9, 2.9, and 2.8 eV for 0%, 15%, 25%, and 35% aluminum content, respectively—with corresponding conduction band offsets of 2.5, 2.2, 1.9, and 1.8 eV. This suggests the largest difference manifests in the conduction band, which is in agreement with the charge neutrality level model.
ContributorsEller, Brianna (Author) / Nemanich, Robert J (Thesis advisor) / Chowdhury, Srabanti (Committee member) / McCartney, Martha (Committee member) / Ponce, Fernando (Committee member) / Smith, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
Semiconductor nanowires have the potential to emerge as the building blocks of next generation field-effect transistors, logic gates, solar cells and light emitting diodes. Use of Gallium Nitride (GaN) and other wide bandgap materials combines the advantages of III-nitrides along with the enhanced mobility offered by 2-dimensional confinement present in

Semiconductor nanowires have the potential to emerge as the building blocks of next generation field-effect transistors, logic gates, solar cells and light emitting diodes. Use of Gallium Nitride (GaN) and other wide bandgap materials combines the advantages of III-nitrides along with the enhanced mobility offered by 2-dimensional confinement present in nanowires. The focus of this thesis is on developing a low field mobility model for a GaN nanowire using Ensemble Monte Carlo (EMC) techniques. A 2D Schrödinger-Poisson solver and a one-dimensional Monte Carlo solver is developed for an Aluminum Gallium Nitride/Gallium Nitride Heterostructure nanowire. A GaN/AlN/AlGaN heterostructure device is designed which creates 2-dimensional potential well for electrons. The nanowire is treated as a quasi-1D system in this work. A self-consistent 2D Schrödinger-Poisson solver is designed which determines the subband energies and the corresponding wavefunctions of the confined system. Three scattering mechanisms: acoustic phonon scattering, polar optical phonon scattering and piezoelectric scattering are considered to account for the electron phonon interactions in the system. Overlap integrals and 1D scattering rate expressions are derived for all the mechanisms listed. A generic one-dimensional Monte Carlo solver is also developed. Steady state results from the 1D Monte Carlo solver are extracted to determine the low field mobility of the GaN nanowires.
ContributorsKumar, Viswanathan Naveen (Author) / Vasileska, Dragica (Thesis advisor) / Goodnick, Stephen (Committee member) / Zhao, Yuji (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017