X-ray spectrometry investigation of electrical isolation in GaN

Electrical isolation of n-type GaN epilayers bombarded with MeV light ions is studied by energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS). We show that the maximum bremsstrahlung x-ray energy (the Duane–Hunt limit) can be used to monitor the isolation process in GaN. This method allows the dose region above the threshold dose for isolation to be conveniently studied, whereas the application of conventional (low-voltage) electrical techniques in this dose range with large sheet resistances of the material (≳1011 Ω/sq) is often impossible due to comparable parasitic resistances of the experimental setup. A correlation of EDS and resistance measurements of GaN strongly suggests that the magnitude of sample charging scales with the number of ion-beam-produced deep electron traps which are empty at equilibrium. The results presented demonstrate the utility of EDS as a powerful and simple technique to study electrical isolation in wide band-gap semiconductors.