Improvement of Ti/Al/Ti Ohmic contacts on AlGaN/GaN heterostructures by insertion of a thin carbon interfacial layer

Abstract

This Letter reports on the improvement of the morphological and electrical behavior in Ti/Al/Ti Ohmic contacts on AlGaN/GaN heterostructures by the insertion of a thin carbon interfacial layer. In particular, the presence of a carbon layer between the Ti/Al/Ti metal stack and the AlGaN surface leads to the lowering of the annealing temperature (down to 450 °C) required to obtain linear I–V curves and to the improvement of the contacts surface morphology. The temperature dependence of the specific contact resistance was explained by the thermionic field emission, with a reduction in the barrier height ΦB down to 0.62 eV in the annealed contacts with the interfacial carbon layer. The experimental evidence has been justified with the formation of a thin low work function TiC layer, which enhances the current conduction through the metal/AlGaN interface.