Electrical properties of TiN on gallium nitride grown using different deposition conditions and annealing

This study evaluates the thermal stability of different refractory metal nitrides used as Schottky electrodes on GaN. The results demonstrate that TiN, MoSiN, and MoN possess good rectification and adhesion strength, with barrier heights of 0.56, 0.54, and 0.36 eV, respectively. After thermal treatment at 850 degrees C for 1 min, the TiN and MoN electrodes still exhibit rectifying characteristics, while the MoSiN degrades to an ohmic-like contact. For further study, several TiN films are deposited using different N-2/Ar reactive/inert sputtering gas ratios, thereby varying the nitrogen content present in the sputtering gas. Ohmic-like contact is observed with the pure Ti contact film, and Schottky characteristics are observed with the samples possessing nitrogen in the film. The average Schottky barrier height is about 0.5 eV and remains virtually constant with varying nitrogen deposition content. After examining Raman spectra and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results, the increase in the film resistivity after thermal treatment is attributed to oxidation and/or nitridation. Films deposited with a medium (40% and 60%) nitrogen content show the best film quality and thermal stability. (C) 2014 American Vacuum Society.