Realization of improved metallization-Ti/Al/Ti/W/Au ohmic contacts to n-GaN for high temperature application

Tungsten metal layer was used for the first time as an effective diffusion barrier for the standard Ti/Al/Ti/Au ohmic metallization scheme to obtain thermally stable ohmic contact suitable for high temperature applications. Comparative studies were performed on three distinct metallization schemes: 1) standard GaN/Ti/Al/Ti/Au, 2) GaN/Ti/Al/W/Au, and 3) GaN/Ti/Al/Ti/W/Au. For the GaN with doping level of 5 × 1017 cm–3, the lowest specific contact resistance for the Ti/Al/Ti/W/Au metallization scheme annealed in argon at 750 °C for 30 sec was 5 × 10–6 Ω.cm2, which is comparable to the standard Ti/Al/Ti/Au scheme. X‐ray diffractions (XRD), auger electron spectroscopy (AES) depth profiling, field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and cross‐sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the Ti/Al/Ti/W/Au metallization has superior morphology and microstructural properties compared to standard Ti/Al/Ti/Au metallizations. Remarkably, this metallization was able to withstand thermal aging at 500 °C for 50 hrs with only marginal morphological and electrical deterioration. These studies revealed that the utilization of a compound diffusion barrier stack, as in the Ti/Al/Ti/W/Au metallization, yields electrically, structurally, and morphologically superior metallizations with exceptional thermal stability. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)