Effects of Incomplete Ionization on Beta - Ga2O3 Power Devices: Unintentional Donor with Energy 110 meV

TL;DR

This study identifies and characterizes an unintentional donor in Ga2O3 with an energy of 110 meV, revealing its impact on device performance and emphasizing the need for its elimination to enhance power device capabilities.

Contribution

The paper provides the first electrical characterization of a previously unobserved unintentional donor in Ga2O3 and analyzes its effects on device performance.

Findings

Unintentional donor energy of 110 meV confirmed by Hall and admittance spectroscopy.

Donor concentration in the mid to high 10^16 cm^-3 range.

Incomplete ionization of this donor degrades device performance, increasing Ronsp and reducing breakdown voltage.

Abstract

Understanding the origin of unintentional doping in Ga2O3 is key to increasing breakdown voltages of Ga2O3 based power devices. Therefore, transport and capacitance spectroscopy studies have been performed to better understand the origin of unintentional doping in Ga2O3. Previously unobserved unintentional donors in commercially available (-201) Ga2O3 substrates have been electrically characterized via temperature dependent Hall effect measurements up to 1000 K and found to have a donor energy of 110 meV. The existence of the unintentional donor is confirmed by temperature dependent admittance spectroscopy, with an activation energy of 131 meV determined via that technique, in agreement with Hall effect measurements. With the concentration of this donor determined to be in the mid to high 10^16 cm^-3 range, elimination of this donor from the drift layer of Ga2O3 power electronics devices will be key to pushing the limits of device performance. Indeed, analytical assessment of the specific on-resistance (Ronsp) and breakdown voltage of Schottky diodes containing the 110 meV donor indicates that incomplete ionization increases Ronsp and decreases breakdown voltage as compared to Ga2O3 Schottky diodes containing only the shallow donor. The reduced performance due to incomplete ionization occurs in addition to the usual tradeoff between Ronsp and breakdown voltage. To achieve 10 kV operation in Ga2O3 Schottky diode devices, analysis indicates that the concentration of 110 meV donors must be reduced below 5x10^14 cm^-3 to limit the increase in Ronsp to one percent.