Band Alignment, Thermal Transport Property, and Electrical Performance of High-Quality β-Ga<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/AlN Schottky Barrier Diode Grown via MOCVD
An-Feng Wang, Hong-Ping Ma, Qi-Min Huang, Lin Gu, Yi Shen, Chengxi Ding, Yang-Chao Liu, Kun Xu, LI Zhu-cheng, Li Zhang, Xiaodong Zhang, Qing-Chun Zhang
Abstract
β-phase gallium oxide (β-Ga 2 O 3 )/aluminum nitride (AlN) heterojunctions hold significant potential for high-power and microwave device applications. In this study, we systematically investigated the properties of the β-Ga 2 O 3 /AlN heterostructure grown via metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). High-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and Raman spectroscopy revealed the crystal structures and demonstrated the high-crystalline quality of both films. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) scans displayed a smooth β-Ga 2 O 3 surface with a root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of 3.6 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed a flat surface with distinct heterostructure boundaries. Elemental distributions across the interface were mapped by using energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis characterized the chemical components of the sample and confirmed a type-II band alignment in the heterojunction, which facilitates electron accumulation. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity of β-Ga 2 O 3 was measured at 4.2 W/(m·K), and the thermal boundary conductivity at the β-Ga 2 O 3 /AlN interface was determined to be 118.6 MW/(m 2 ·K) using the time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) method. Temperature-dependent electrical performance of the β-Ga 2 O 3 /AlN SBD, including a low turn-on voltage of 0.1 V, ideality factor of 4.22, modified Richardson constant of 48.5 A/cm 2 K 2, and high breakdown voltage of 1260 V, was obtained. All of these values are competitive among β-Ga 2 O 3 -based heterostructures. The findings highlight the excellent interface quality, superior heat dissipation capability, and decent SBD performance of the β-Ga 2 O 3 /AlN integration, offering a promising platform for developing β-Ga 2 O 3 -based power devices capable of operating at high temperatures.