Study of interface of ohmic contacts to AlGaN/GaN heterostructure

Abstract

The paper embraces studies of the interface of ohmic contacts and AIIIBV-N heterostructure. The TiAl based metallization stack was investigated. The Ti/Al/Ni/Au contact to AlGaN/GaN heterostructures fabricated by metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy was examined using three methods i.e. etching of annealed contact metallization, fractures (prepared at room temperature and after a bath in liquid nitrogen) and microsections imaging. The main focus was on the estimation of reaction range on the metal-semiconductor interface of samples. In the first method, the surface of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure after etching of metallization was studied by an optical microscope, scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope. The changes of surface morphology of heterostructure directly reflect solid state reactions range between metallization and semiconductor. The range of reactions was also observed using the small-angle microsections method while the fractures analysis did not bring valuable information.