Current transport mechanism of AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diode with fully recessed Schottky anode

Both the forward and reverse-bias current transport mechanisms of an AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diode with a fully recessed Schottky anode (recessed-SBD) are investigated for the first time. A two-dimensional (2D) device simulation gives insight into the electronic transport. The difference between the forward and reverse conduction paths enables the reduction in V-on without sacrificing the low reverse leakage current properties. The results of temperature-dependent current-voltage (T-I-V) measurements show that thermionic field emission (TFE) is the dominant current transport mechanism for forward bias. In the reverse-bias region above the pinch-off voltage, two mechanisms codetermine leakage currents, which contain Frenkel-Poole emission from the overlapped planar contact and tunneling from the recessed sidewall contact. Below the pinch-off voltage, the leakage currents are observed to have exponential temperature dependence, which may be consistent with trap-assisted tunneling (TAT). (C) 2015 The Japan Society of Applied Physics