Investigation of Ti/Al/Ni/Au ohmic contacts for AlScN/GaN HEMTs

Publication date: 2 Mar 2026

JournalSource: OPENALEXOpenAlex type: articleOpen Access
Authors: Isabel Streicher, Simone Milazzo, Patrik Straňák, Lutz Kirste, Teresa M. Figueira Duarte, Salvatore Di Franco, Valerio Votadoro, Stefano Leone, Giuseppe Greco, Fabrizio Roccaforte

The high bandgap of AlScN makes it difficult to achieve ohmic contacts with a low specific contact resistance (ρc) to AlScN/GaN heterostructures. High ρc increases the on-resistance of the high-electron-mobility transistor fabricated from these heterostructures and reduces the achievable current densities. This work presents an ohmic recess process and Ti/Al/Ni/Au metallizations with a ρc of 8.83×10−5 Ω cm2 after annealing at 900 °C. Interestingly, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry reveals that out-diffusion of Sc from the barrier to the metal surface occurs at anneal temperatures above 700 °C. While this structural metamorphosis does not show a strong impact on ρc, it leads to an increase in the on-resistance and gate leakage currents, as well as to a decrease in the maximum drain current of HEMTs. At an anneal temperature of 600 °C, no thermal degradation was observed and ρc as low as 13.4×10−5 Ωcm2 are achieved.

Origin
Journal of Applied Physics
Volume
139
Issue
9
Cited by
0