Optoelectronic characterisation of AlGaN based Schottky barrier diodes

Abstract

Recent advances in growth techniques have lead to the production of high quality GaN and this has played a vital role in the improvement of GaN based devices. A number of device types can be produced from GaN. Spectrally selective devices can be produced by creating ternary or quaternary material systems by partially substituting either Al or In for Ga in GaN. This allows a wide spectral range that can be achieved ranging from the visible to the ultraviolet. The applications of detectors based on these material systems are vast and include areas such as biological, military, environmental, industrial and scientific spheres. In front illuminated Schottky barrier photodetectors, two major factors influencing the sensitivity of the device are the reverse leakage current and the transparency of the Schottky contact. In order to reduce the reverse current of semiconductor based devices, increase the barrier height, and enhance the adhesion of a metal on a semiconductor it is important to subject the contact to annealing. Annealing studies have been performed on AlGaN based photodiodes to investigate the evolution of the optical and electrical properties. In this study, the electrical and optical characteristics of AlGaN based Ni/Au and Ni/Ir/Au Schottky photodiodes were investigated. The electrical properties of the photodiodes were optimised by annealing in an Ar ambient. An increase in the Schottky barrier height and a decrease in the reverse leakage current were observed with increasing annealing temperature up to 500 oC. This effect was observed for both the Ni/Au and Ni/Ir/Au photodiodes. The optical characteristics of the photodiodes, which include the responsivity and the quantum efficiency, were also investigated. UV/visible rejection ratios of as high as 103 were obtained. The transmittance of Ni/Au and Ni/Ir/Au metal layers deposited on a quartz substrate were optimised by annealing. This was under the same ambient conditions as the Schottky photodiode. The transmittance increased with annealing temperature for the Ni/Au metal layer whereas it decreased at higher temperatures for the Ni/Ir/Au layer. The transmittance of the Ni/Au metal layer reached as high as 85 % after 500 oC annealing. The transmittance of the Ni/Ir/Au only reached a high of 41 % after 400 oC annealing.