Temperature-Dependent Characteristics of GaN Schottky Barrier Diodes with TiN and Ni Anodes*

Abstract

The effect of temperature on the characteristics of gallium nitride (GaN) Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with TiN and Ni anodes is evaluated. With increasing the temperature from 25 to 175°C, reduction of the turn-on voltage and increase of the leakage current are observed for both GaN SBDs with TiN and Ni anodes. The performance after thermal treatment shows much better stability for SBDs with TiN anode, while those with Ni anode change due to more interface states. It is found that the leakage currents of the GaN SBDs with TiN anode are in accord with the thermionic emission model whereas those of the GaN SBDs with Ni anode are much higher than the model. The Silvaco TCAD simulation results show that phonon-assisted tunneling caused by interface states may lead to the instability of electrical properties after thermal treatment, which dominates the leakage currents for GaN SBDs with Ni anode. Compared with GaN SBDs with Ni anode, GaN SBDs with TiN anode are beneficial to the application in microwave power rectification fields due to lower turn-on voltage and better thermal stability.