Effect of crystalline anisotropy on vertical (-201) and (010) beta-Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diodes on EFG single-crystal substrates

TL;DR

This study compares the electrical properties of beta-Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diodes fabricated on different crystal orientations, revealing how crystalline anisotropy influences device performance and characteristics.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of how crystalline anisotropy affects the electrical behavior of beta-Ga2O3 SBDs on EFG-grown substrates, highlighting orientation-dependent differences.

Findings

(010) SBD has higher turn-on voltage and Schottky barrier height than (-201) SBD.

(-201) SBD exhibits more uniform Schottky barrier height.

Crystalline anisotropy significantly impacts the electrical properties of beta-Ga2O3 SBDs.

Abstract

Vertical (-201) and (010) beta-Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) were fabricated on single-crystal substrates grown by edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) method. High resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) confirmed good crystal quality and surface morphology of the substrates. The electrical properties of both devices, including current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics, were comprehensively measured and compared. The (-201) and (010) SBDs exhibited on-resistances (Ron) of 0.56 and 0.77 m{\Omega}cm2, turn-on voltages (Von) of 1.0 and 1.3 V, Schottky barrier heights (SBH) of 1.05 and 1.20 eV, electron mobilities of 125 and 65 cm2/(Vs), respectively, with a high on-current of ~1.3 kA/cm2 and on/off ratio of ~109. The (010) SBD had a larger Von and SBH than (-201) SBD due to anisotropic surface properties (i.e., surface Fermi level pinning and band bending), as supported by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. Temperature-dependent I-V also revealed the inhomogeneous nature of the SBH in both devices, where (-201) SBD showed a more uniform SBH distribution. The homogeneous SBH was also extracted: 1.33 eV for (-201) SBD and 1.53 eV for (010) SBD. The reverse leakage current of the devices was well described by the two-step trap-assisted tunneling model and the one-dimensional variable range hopping conduction (1D-VRH) model. The (-201) SBD showed larger leakage current due to its lower SBH and smaller activation energy. These results indicate the crystalline anisotropy of beta-Ga2O3 can affect the electrical properties of vertical SBDs and should be taken into consideration when designing beta-Ga2O3 electronics.