13 June 2019  |  Author: Dr Harm Knoops

We explore the ways that Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technology can benefit GaN power devices.

Gallium Nitride (GaN) is a wonderful material for power electronics due to its wide band gap. With the electrification of transport, GaN power devices are becoming more and more important and device cost and efficiencies are critical. For many applications E-mode or normally-off devices are important for fail-safe requirements and gate dielectric layers (such as Al₂O₃) are vital to obtain more efficient devices in E-mode configurations.

Read below the 5 ways in which Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) can help to achieve these goals and benefit GaN devices:

• Film Quality
• Conformality
• Control
• Low Damage
• Pre-treatments

1.  FILM QUALITY

The thin-film gate dielectric for GaN-based transistors has to be of high quality to result in low leakage and high breakdown voltage. The benefit of ALD and particularly of plasma ALD is that it deposits dense layers resulting in a superior performing device.

Breakdown doesn’t occur until a high voltage which is due to the high quality of the layer and the low level of pin-holes resulting from ALD’s ability to fill voids. Interestingly these properties are obtained at modest temperatures of 200 to 400°C avoiding high temperatures needed for some other techniques.

Figure 1: Cross-sectional schematic of normally-off GaN-on-silicon power device with etched recess and conformal gate dielectric.

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2.  CONFORMALITY

Recess structures can be challenging for many directional deposition techniques such as sputtering. The recess geometries used in GaN devices have relatively modest aspect ratios and are quite easy for most ALD processes.

Due to the self-limiting nature of ALD these can be coated conformally with equal thickness throughout the structure. Generally no change in process recipe is needed to maintain conformal deposition for a wide range of device structures and associated aspect ratios.

3.  CONTROL

Both in production and research, thickness and property control are essential. The self-limiting nature of ALD allows for excellent uniformity over large areas, making all devices perform the same. Since the resulting film thickness is based on the number of ALD cycles chosen, excellent reproducibility is obtained as well. Thereby providing the same thickness each run and little variation from machine to machine or day to day.

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Due to the stepwise nature of ALD it is also relatively easy to modify the recipe or mix materials together. This property of ALD makes it easy to follow a future roadmap of material modification and process improvement. For instance by going to higher-k materials such as HfO₂ or going to nitride dielectrics such as AlN.

4.  LOW DAMAGE

In comparison to other semiconductors, the GaN surface is one of the most process-sensitive in the electronics industry. Luckily, remote plasma ALD processes are low damage to GaN. Optimizing the process conditions and limiting ion energy and flux allows for low defect densities the interface and in the film. At the same time reactive species densities and fluxes are sufficient to grow high-quality material and have acceptable throughput of the process.

5.  PRE-TREATMENTS

After the preceding processing step or after air exposure the GaN surface can have a low-quality surface oxide and can contain defects and impurities such as carbon. Both remote plasma pulses and ALD precursor pulses can be used to reduce these. Trimethylaluminium (TMA) is a common ALD precursor for dielectric Al₂O₃ growth.

Interestingly, TMA can actually be used as reducing agent to remove some of the surface oxide of GaN. Hydrogen and nitrogen plasmas are known to be able to reduce surface oxides as well and are known to be able to remove impurities such as carbon.

Figure 2: Example of H₂ or N₂ plasma pre-treatment and Al₂O₃ plasma ALD on GaN to illustrate the effect of pre-treatment and ALD on the surface composition and structure.

We expect that these 5 ways are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the possibilities that ALD provide for power semiconductors. Combining the pre-treatments and plasma ALD with subsequent processing such as anneals is expected to allow for even further optimised device performance. Let us know your questions and ideas in the comments below!