High Throughput Development of Low-Resistance Contact to p-type GaN by Combinatorial Screening of Surface Dopants

Group III-nitrides with their wide bandgap properties are one of most promising materials not only in opto-electronics but also in high power and high temperature electronics. A critical issue in device applications of the nitride materials is the metal ohmic contact, which seriously limits the performance and efficiency of nitride-based devices. Finding suitable low-resistance Ohmic contacts for wide-bandgap materials like GaN is challenging due to high Schottky barrier between wide bandgap semiconductors and metal contacts. Especially in p-type GaN the low carrier concentration and large effective mass increase the contact resistance even higher. With its proprietary high throughput combinatorial approaches, Intematix proposes to modify the surface doping level of p-type GaN by placing group II elements. With the optimized composition and metallization process, at least two orders of improvement in low resistance contacts are targeted.