Properties and device performance of BN thin films grown on GaN by pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

Wide and ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors lie at the heart of next-generation high-power, high-frequency electronics. Here, we report the growth of ultrawide-bandgap boron nitride (BN) thin films on wide-bandgap gallium nitride (GaN) by pulsed laser deposition. Comprehensive spectroscopic (core level and valence band x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman) and microscopic (atomic force microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy) characterizations confirm the growth of BN thin films on GaN. Optically, we observed that the BN/GaN heterostructure is second-harmonic generation active. Moreover, we fabricated the BN/GaN heterostructure-based Schottky diode that demonstrates rectifying characteristics, lower turn-on voltage, and an improved breakdown capability (∼234 V) as compared to GaN (∼168 V), owing to the higher breakdown electrical field of BN. Our approach is an early step toward bridging the gap between wide and ultrawide-bandgap materials for potential optoelectronics as well as next-generation high-power electronics.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Aug 29, 2022
Source ID
10.1063/5.0092356

Entities

People

  • A. Glen Birdwell
  • Abhijit Biswas
  • Anand B Puthirath
  • Chenxi Li
  • Dmitry Ruzmetov
  • Hanyu Zhu
  • Harikishan Kannan
  • Jingan Zhou
  • Jordan A Hachtel
  • Kai Fu
  • Mahesh R. Neupane
  • Mingfei Xu
  • Pankaj B. Shah
  • Pulickel Ajayan
  • Robert Vajtai
  • Rui Xu
  • Sathvik Ajay Iyengar
  • Tia Gray
  • Tony Ivanov
  • Xiang Zhang
  • Yuji Zhao

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • National Science Foundation
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • Rice University
  • United States Department of Energy

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Pulsed-Laser Deposition
  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene