Open AccessEffect of Fluoride‐based Plasma Treatment on the Performance of AlGaN/GaN MISHFET
Author(s) -
Ahn HoKyun,
Kim HaeCheon,
Kang DongMin,
Kim SungIl,
Lee JongMin,
Lee SangHeung,
Min ByoungGue,
Yoon HyoungSup,
Kim DongYoung,
Lim JongWon,
Kwon YongHwan,
Nam EunSoo,
Park HyoungMoo,
Lee JungHee
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
etri journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.295
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 2233-7326
pISSN - 1225-6463
DOI - 10.4218/etrij.16.0015.0040
Subject(s) - misfet , materials science , optoelectronics , gate dielectric , silicon nitride , plasma , dielectric , reactive ion etching , atomic layer deposition , layer (electronics) , etching (microfabrication) , nitride , silicon , transistor , field effect transistor , electrical engineering , nanotechnology , voltage , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
This paper demonstrates the effect of fluoride‐based plasma treatment on the performance of Al 2 O 3 /AlGaN/GaN metal‐insulator‐semiconductor heterostructure field effect transistors (MISHFETs) with a T‐shaped gate length of 0.20 μm. For the fabrication of the MISHFET, an Al 2 O 3 layer as a gate dielectric was deposited using atomic layer deposition, which greatly decreases the gate leakage current, followed by the deposition of the silicon nitride layer. The silicon nitride layer on the gate foot region was then selectively removed through a reactive ion etching technique using CF 4 plasma. The etching process was continued for a longer period of time even after the complete removal of the silicon nitride layer to expose the Al 2 O 3 gate dielectric layer to the plasma environment. The thickness of the Al 2 O 3 gate dielectric layer was slowly reduced during the plasma exposure. Through this plasma treatment, the device exhibited a threshold voltage shift of 3.1 V in the positive direction, an increase of 50 mS/mm in trans conductance, a degraded off‐state performance and a larger gate leakage current compared with that of the reference device without a plasma treatment.