Effect of Pt diffusion barrier layer in Ni/AuGe/Pt/Au on ohmic contact to n-GaAs

The multi-layer metals of Ni/AuGe/Pt/Au with a Pt diffusion barrier layer of ohmic contact to n-GaAs were studied. The surface morphology and ohmic contact resistivity of multi-layer metals were characterized, with and without the Pt diffusion barrier layer for comparison. The SEM and EDS measurements show the Pt diffusion barrier layer can block the interdiffusion of atoms in multi-layer metals, and improve the surface morphology. The TLM results show that the samples with a Pt diffusion barrier layer have uniform ohmic contact resistance, indicating that the Pt diffusion barrier layer can increase the repetition and uniformity of ohmic contact to n-GaAs, and improve the thermal stability and reliability of GaAs-based devices.