arXiv subjects

Siddharth Rajan

Publications and source records attributed to Siddharth Rajan.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Design and Simulation of a III-Nitride Light Emitting Transistor

This paper describes the design and characteristics of monolithically integrated three-terminal gated III-Nitride light emitting diodes (LEDs) devices. The impact of channel doping and thickness on the voltage penalty of the transistor-LED hybrid device is analyzed, and it is shown that with appropriate design, low voltage drop can be realized across integrated gated LED structures. The impact of device design on the switching charge is investigated, and it is shown that the adoption of an integrated LED/transistor structure can reduce the switching charge necessary for operation of a switched LED display device by an order of magnitude when compared with stand-alone light-emitting diodes.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2023

Band alignment of grafted monocrystalline Si (001)/$β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ (010) p-n heterojunction determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Beta-phase gallium oxide ($β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$) research has gained accelerated pace due to its superiorly large bandgap and commercial availability of large-diameter native substrates. However, the high acceptor activation energy obstructs the development of homojunction bipolar devices employing $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$. The recently demonstrated semiconductor grafting technique provides an alternative and viable approach towards lattice-mismatched $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$-based p-n heterojunctions with high quality interfaces. Understanding and quantitatively characterizing the band alignment of the grafted heterojunctions is crucial for future bipolar device development employing the grafting method. In this work, we present a systematic study of the band alignment in the grafted monocrystalline Si/$β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ heterostructure by employing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The core level peaks and valence band spectra of the Si, $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$, and the grafted heterojunction were carefully obtained and analyzed. The band diagrams of the Si/$β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ heterostructure were constructed using two individual methods, the core level peak method and the valence band spectrum method, by utilizing the different portions of the measured data. The reconstructed band alignments of the Si/$β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ heterostructure using the two different methods are identical within the error range. The band alignment is also consistent with the prediction from the electron affinity values of Si and $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$. The study suggests that the interface defect density in grafted Si/$β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ heterostructure is at a sufficiently low level such that Fermi level pinning at the interface has been completely avoided and the universal electron affinity rule can be safely employed to construct the band diagrams of grafted monocrystalline Si/$β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ heterostructures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Demonstration of Multi-Active Region P-down Green LEDs with High Quantum Efficiency

Longer wavelength emitters such as green LEDs display a pronounced efficiency drop at higher current densities, resulting in relatively low wall-plug efficiency. Multi-active region approach can improve the wall-plug efficiency significantly and tackle the green gap challenge. This work reports multi-active region p-down LEDs with high external efficiency operating entirely in the green wavelength. Devices were developed using p-down topology, where the PN junction is oriented such that electric fields from depletion and built-in polarization dipoles are aligned. Ga-polar multi-active region green LEDs with excellent voltage and EQE scaling, and significantly higher wall-plug efficiency is demonstrated in this work.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2023

Demonstration of a monocrystalline GaAs-$β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ p-n heterojunction

In this work, we report the fabrication and characterizations of a monocrystalline GaAs/$β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ p-n heterojunction by employing semiconductor grafting technology. The heterojunction was created by lifting off and transfer printing a p-type GaAs single crystal nanomembrane to an Al$_2$O$_3$-coated n-type$β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ epitaxial substrate. The resultant heterojunction diodes exhibit remarkable performance metrics, including an ideality factor of 1.23, a high rectification ratio of 8.04E9 at +/- 4V, and a turn on voltage of 2.35 V. Furthermore, at +5 V, the diode displays a large current density of 2500 A/cm$^2$ along with a low ON resistance of 2 m$Ω\cdot$cm$^2$.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2023

Selective injection AlGaN/GaN heterojunction bipolar transistors with patterned regrown base contacts

We demonstrate graded AlGaN/GaN heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with selective injection of minority carriers across a p-GaN base and patterned regrown base contacts. The selective injection design regulates minority carrier transport under emitter-base forward bias through a thin base region, while thick and highly doped p$^+$ GaN regrown layers patterned alongside the thin base regions are utilized to lower the base contact resistance. With SiO$_2$ employed as a spacer between the emitter and the p$^+$ regrown layers, the device with an interdigitated emitter/base-contact stripe design displayed a maximum collector current density (I$_C$) of 101 kA/cm$^2$, a maximum current gain ($β$) of 70 at I$_C$ $\sim$ 1 kA/cm$^2$ and $\sim$ 11 for I$_C$ $>$ 50 kA/cm$^2$. The reported results demonstrate the potential of the selective injection approach to break the long-existing HBT design tradeoff between base resistance and current gain for next-generation radio frequency and mm-Wave applications.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2023

Initial demonstration of AlGaAs-GaAsP-beta-Ga2O3 n-p-n double heterojunctions

Beta phase gallium oxides, an ultrawide-bandgap semiconductor, has great potential for future power and RF electronics applications but faces challenges in bipolar device applications due to the lack of p-type dopants. In this work, we demonstrate monocrystalline AlGaAs_GaAsP_beta phase gallium oxides n-p-n double-heterojunctions, synthesized using semiconductor grafting technology. By transfer printing an n-AlGaAs_p-GaAsP nanomembrane to the n-beta phase-Ga$_2$O$_3$ epitaxial substrate, we simultaneously achieved AlGaAs_GaAsP epitaxial n-p junction diode with an ideality factor of 1.29 and a rectification ratio of 2.57E3 at +/- 2 V, and grafted GaAsP_beta_phase_gallium oxides p-n junction diode exhibiting an ideality factor of 1.36 and a rectification ratio of 4.85E2 at +/- 2 V.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2023

Anisotropic excitonic photocurrent in $β$-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$

Polarization dependent photocurrent spectra are measured on a (001) $β$-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ Schottky photodetector, where the linear polarization of light is rotated within the ab plane. Three spectral peaks at 4.92 eV, 5.15 eV, and 5.44 eV are observed that vary in intensity with the optical polarization direction. The peak transition energies are consistent with excitons previously reported in $β$-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ due to interband transitions modified by the valence band p-orbital anisotropy and the electron-hole Coulombic attraction. The measured polarization-dependence of the photocurrent matches our predictions based on electromagnetic simulations of anisotropic absorption using the complex dielectric function tensor extracted from previous ellipsometry studies. These results illustrate the dominance of excitonic absorption and photocurrent in $β$-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$ both below and above the band gap, demonstrate a combined theoretical/experimental understanding of anisotropic photocarrier generation, and validate previous atomistic band structure calculations in this low-symmetry ultra-wide band gap semiconductor.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

$β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ Trench Schottky Diodes by Novel Low-Damage Ga-Flux Etching

$β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ trench Schottky barrier diodes fabricated through a Gallium atomic beam etching technique, with excellent field strength and power device figure of merit, are demonstrated. Trench formation was accomplished by a low-damage Ga flux etch that enables near-ideal forward operating characteristics that are independent of fin orientation. The reverse breakdown field strength of greater than 5.10 MV/cm is demonstrated at breakdown voltage as of 1.45 kV. This result demonstrates the potential for Ga atomic beam etching and high-quality dielectric layers for improved performance in $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ vertical power devices.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2022

Simulation of GaN-Based Light Emitting Diodes Incorporating Composition Fluctuation Effects

III-Nitride light emitting diodes (LEDs) are widely used in a range of high efficiency lighting and display applications, which have enabled significant energy savings in the last decade. Despite the wide application of GaN LEDs, transport mechanisms across InGaN/GaN heterostructures in these devices are not well-explained. Fixed polarization sheet charges at InGaN/GaN interfaces lead to large interface dipole charges, which create large potential barriers to overcome. One-dimensional models for transport across such heterostructures predict turn-on voltages that are significantly higher than that found in real devices. As a result, conventional models for transport cannot predict the performance of new designs such as for longer wavelength LEDs, or for multi-quantum well LEDs. In this work, we show that incorporating low and high Indium compositions within quantum wells at the submicron scale can provide accurate prediction of the characteristics of GaN/InGaN light emitting diodes.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2021

Spectral measurement of the breakdown limit of $β-Ga_{2}O_{3}$ and tunnel ionization of self-trapped excitons and holes

$β-Ga_{2}O_{3}$ is an unusual semiconductor where large electric fields (~1-6 MV/cm) can be applied while still maintaining a dominant excitonic absorption peak below its ultra-wide bandgap. This provides a rare opportunity in the solid-state to examine exciton and carrier self-trapping dynamics in the strong-field limit at steady-state. Under sub-bandgap photon excitation, we observe a field-induced red-shift of the spectral photocurrent peak associated with exciton absorption and threshold-like increase in peak amplitude at high-field associated with self-trapped hole ionization. The field-dependent spectral response is quantitatively fit with an eXciton-modified Franz-Keldysh (XFK) effect model, which includes the electric-field dependent exciton binding energy due to the quadratic Stark effect. A saturation of the spectral red-shift with reverse bias is observed exactly at the onset of dielectric breakdown providing a spectral means to detect and quantify the local electric field and dielectric breakdown behavior. Additionally, the field-dependent responsivity provides insight to the photocurrent production pathway revealing the photocurrent contributions of self-trapped excitons (STXs) and self-trapped holes (STHs). Photocurrent and p-type transport in $β-Ga_{2}O_{3}$ are quantitatively explained by field-dependent tunnel ionization of excitons and self-trapped holes. We employ a quantum mechanical model of the field-dependent tunnel ionization of STX and STH to model the non-linear field-dependence of the photocurrent amplitude. Fitting to the data, we estimate an effective mass of valence band holes $(18.8 m_{0})$ and an ultrafast self-trapping time of holes (0.045 fs). This indicates that minority-hole transport in $β-Ga_{2}O_{3}$ can only arise through tunnel ionization of STH under strong fields.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Planar and 3-dimensional damage free etching of $β$-Ga2O3 using atomic gallium flux

In-situ etching using Ga flux in an ultra-high vacuum environment like MBE is introduced as a method to make high aspect ratio 3 dimensional structures in $β$-Ga2O3. Etching of $β$-Ga2O3 due to excess Ga adatoms on the epilayer surface had been viewed as non-ideal for epitaxial growth especially since it results in plateauing and lowering of growth rate. In this study, we use this well-known reaction from epitaxial growth to intentionally etch $β$-Ga2O3. We demonstrate etch rate ranging from 2.9 nm/min to 30 nm/min with the highest reported etch rate being only limited by the highest Ga flux used. Patterned in-situ etching is also demonstrated and used to study the effect of fin orientation on the sidewall profiles and dopant (Si) segregation on the etched surface. Using in-situ Ga etching, we also demonstrate 150 nm wide fins and 200 nm wide nano pillars with high aspect ratio. This new etching method could enable future development of highly scaled vertical and lateral 3D devices in $β$-Ga2O3.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

All-MOCVD-Grown Gallium Nitride Diodes with Ultra-Low Resistance Tunnel Junctions

We carefully investigate three important effects including postgrowth activation annealing, delta (δ) dose and p+-GaN layer thickness and experimentally demonstrate their influence on the electrical properties of GaN p-n homojunction diodes with a tunnel junction (TJ)-based p-contact. The p-n diodes and TJ structures were monolithically grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) in a single growth step. By optimizing the annealing time and temperature for magnesium (Mg) activation and introducing δ-doses for both donors and acceptors at TJ interfaces, a significant improvement in electrical properties is achieved. For the continuously-grown, all-MOCVD GaN homojunction TJs, ultra-low forward voltage penalties of 158 mV and 490 mV are obtained at current densities of 20 A/cm2 and 100 A/cm2, respectively. The p-n diode with an engineered TJ shows a record-low normalized differential resistance of 1.6 x 10-4 Ω-cm2 at 5 kA/cm2.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Electrostatic Engineering using Extreme Permittivity Materials for Ultra-wide Bandgap Semiconductor Transistors

The performance of ultra-wide band gap materials like $β$-Ga$_\mathrm{2}$O$_\mathrm{3}$ is critically dependent on achieving high average electric fields within the active region of the device. In this report, we show that high-k gate dielectrics like BaTiO$_\mathrm{3}$ can provide an efficient field management strategy by improving the uniformity of electric field profile in the gate-drain region of lateral field effect transistors. Using this strategy, we were able to achieve high average breakdown fields of 1.5 MV/cm and 4 MV/cm at gate-drain spacing (L$_\mathrm{gd}$) of 6 um and 0.6 um respectively in $β$-Ga$_\mathrm{2}$O$_\mathrm{3}$, at a high channel sheet charge density of 1.8x10$^\mathrm{13}$cm$^\mathrm{-2}$. The high sheet charge density together with high breakdown field enabled a record power figure of merit (V$^\mathrm{2}$$_\mathrm{br}$/R$_\mathrm{on}$) of 376 MW/cm$^\mathrm{2}$ at a gate-drain spacing of 3 um.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Probing charge transport and background doping in MOCVD grown (010) $β$-Ga$_{2}$O$_{3}$

A new record-high room temperature electron Hall mobility ($μ_{RT} = 194\space cm^{2}/V\space s$ at $n\sim 8\times 10^{15}\space cm^{-3}$) for $β$-Ga2O3 is demonstrated in the unintentionally doped thin film grown on (010) semi-insulating substrate via metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). A peak electron mobility of $\sim 9500\space cm^{2}/V\space s$ is achieved at 45 K. Further investigation on the transport properties indicate the existence of sheet charges near the epi-layer/substrate interface. Si is identified as the primary contributor to the background carrier in both the epi-layer and the interface, originated from both surface contamination as well as growth environment. Pre-growth hydrofluoric acid cleaning of the substrate lead to an obvious decrease of Si impurity both at interface and in epi-layer. In addition, the effect of MOCVD growth condition, particularly the chamber pressure, on the Si impurity incorporation is studied. A positive correlation between the background charge concentration and the MOCVD growth pressure is confirmed. It is noteworthy that in a $β$-Ga2O3 film with very low bulk charge concentration, even a reduced sheet charge density can play an important role in the charge transport properties.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Deep-recessed $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ delta-doped field effect transistors with in situ epitaxial passivation

We introduce a deep-recessed gate architecture in $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ delta-doped field effect transistors for improvement in DC-RF dispersion and breakdown properties. The device design incorporates an unintentionally doped $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ layer as the passivation dielectric. To fabricate the device, the deep-recess geometry was developed using BCl$_3$ plasma based etching at ~5 W RIE to ensure minimal plasma damage. Etch damage incurred with plasma etching was mitigated by annealing in vacuum at temperatures above 600 $°$C. A gate-connected field-plate edge termination was implemented for efficient field management. Negligible surface dispersion with lower knee-walkout at high V$_\mathrm{DS}$, and better breakdown characteristics compared to their unpassivated counterparts were achieved. A three terminal off-state breakdown voltage of 315 V, corresponding to an average breakdown field of 2.3 MV/cm was measured. The device breakdown was limited by the field-plate/passivation edge and presents scope for further improvement. This demonstration of epitaxially passivated field effect transistors is a significant step for $β$-Ga$_2$O$_3$ technology since the structure simultaneously provides control of surface-related dispersion and excellent field management.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Local Electric Field Measurement in GaN Diodes by exciton Franz-Keldysh Photocurrent Spectroscopy

The eXciton Franz-Keldysh (XFK) effect is observed in GaN p-n junction diodes via the spectral variation of photocurrent responsivity data that redshift and broaden with increasing reverse bias. Photocurrent spectra are quantitatively fit over a broad photon energy range to an XFK model using only a single fit parameter that determines the lineshape, the local bias ($V_{l}$), uniquely determining the local electric field maximum and depletion widths. As expected, the spectrally determined values of $V_{l}$ vary linearly with the applied bias ($V$) and reveal a large reduction in the local electric field due to electrostatic non-uniformity. The built-in bias ($V_{bi}$) is estimated by extrapolating $V_{l}$ at $V=0$, which compared with independent C-V measurements indicates an overall $\pm$0.31 V accuracy of $V_{l}$. This demonstrates sub-bandgap photocurrent spectroscopy as a local probe of electric field in wide bandgap diodes that can be used to map out regions of device breakdown (hot spots) for improving electrostatic design of high voltage devices.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Zeeman Spin-Splitting in the (010) $β$-Ga2O3 Two-Dimensional Electron Gas

Through magneto-transport measurements and analysis of the observed Shubnikov de Haas oscillations in (010) (AlxGa1-x)2O3/Ga2O3 heterostructures, spin-splitting of the Landau levels in the (010) Ga2O3 two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) has been studied. Analysis indicates that the spin-splitting results from the Zeeman effect. By fitting the both the first and second harmonic of the oscillations as a function of magnetic field, we determine the magnitude of the Zeeman splitting to be 0.4$\hbarω_c$, with a corresponding effective g-factor of 2.7, for magnetic field perpendicular to the 2DEG.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Metal$/BaTiO_{3}/β-Ga_{2}O_{3}$ Dielectric Heterojunction Diode with 5.7 MV/cm Breakdown Field

Wide and ultra-wide band gap semiconductors can provide excellent performance due to their high energy band gap, which leads to breakdown electric fields that are more than an order of magnitude higher than conventional silicon electronics. In materials where p-type doping is not available, achieving this high breakdown field in a vertical diode or transistor is very challenging. We propose and demonstrate the use of dielectric heterojunctions that use extreme permittivity materials to achieve high breakdown field in a unipolar device. We demonstrate the integration of a high permittivity material BaTiO3 with n-type $β$-Ga2O3 to enable 5.7 MV/cm average electric field and 7 MV/cm peak electric field at the device edge, while maintaining forward conduction with relatively low on-resistance and voltage loss. The proposed dielectric heterojunction could enable new design strategies to achieve theoretical device performance limits in wide and ultra-wide band gap semiconductors where bipolar doping is challenging.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗