Electrical and growth characteristics of Au/Al_0.15Ga_0.85N:Si structures with various Si incorporations

We have investigated the growth characteristics of n-Al_0.15Ga_0.85N:Si/GaN and the electronic properties of Au/n-Al_0.15Ga_0.85N:Si diode structures grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) with various Si incorporations. The Al_0.15Ga_0.85N:Si layers were grown on undoped GaN/sapphire (0001) epitaxial layers in a horizontal MOCVD reactor at the reduced pressure of 300 torr. The mirrorlike surface, free of defects, such as cracks or hillocks, can be seen in the undoped Al_0.15Ga_0.85N epilayer, which was grown without any intentional flow of SiH₄. However, many cracks are observed in the nAl_0.15Ga_0.85N:Si, which was grown -with Si incorporation above 1.0 nmol/min. While Au/n-Al_0.15Ga_0.85N:Si diodes having low incorporation of Si showed relatively good rectifying behavior, the samples having high Si incorporation exhibited leaky current-voltage (I-V) behavior Particularly, the Au/n-Al_0.15Ga_0.85N:Si structure grown with Si incorporation above 1.0 nmol/min cannot be used for electrical rectification. Both added tunneling components and thermionic emission influence the current transport at the Au/n-Al_0.15Ga_0.85N:Si barrier when Si incorporation becomes higher.