Impact of swift heavy oxygen ion irradiation on the performance of Pt/GaN Schottky diodes and epitaxial layers: A comparative study

Abstract

Pt/GaN Schottky barrier diodes and GaN epitaxial layers on sapphire substrates were studied under swift heavy ion irradiation using 100 MeV O7+ ions having fluences in the range of 1 × 1010–6.4 × 1013 ions/cm2. It was observed that ideality factor, Schottky barrier height, and series resistance increased, while carrier concentration decreased with increasing ion fluence. The ex situ measurements, such as x-ray diffraction and UV–Vis spectroscopy, revealed that GaN layers exhibit negligible variation in structural and bandgap characteristics after irradiation with oxygen ions. The cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy images of the GaN epitaxial layer irradiated at 5 × 1012 ions/cm2 confirmed the absence of irradiation-induced tracks or defect clusters, indicating only point defects that can act as charge traps without structural damage.