A Surface Treatment Technique for III-N Device Fabrication

Yun Zhang, Jae-Hyun Ryou, Russell D. Dupuis, and Shyh-Chiang Shen
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
777 Atlantic Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30332-0250
Phone: 404-894-1884; Email: shensc@ece.gatech.edu
Keywords: III-N, SURFACE TREATMENT, ELECTRODE-LESS WET ETCHING, DOE

Abstract
In this paper, we present a simple yet effective surface treatment technique using a UV-enhanced electrode-less wet-etching to reduce roughness as well as surface leakage paths in ICP-etched III-N devices. The surface treatment in this study utilizes an aqueous solution with potassium hydroxide (KOH) as the etchant, catalyzed with a UV-light illumination. To study optimal conditions of the surface treatment, bi-level design of experiments were studied and an optimal etching conduction was found to achieve a reduction of the leakage current in III-N p-n junctions by at least one order of magnitude.
 
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