Study of leakage current degradation based on stacking faults expansion in irradiated SiC junction barrier Schottky diodes

A comprehensive investigation was conducted to explore the degradation mechanism of leakage current in SiC junction barrier Schottky(JBS)diodes under heavy ion irradiation.We propose and verify that the generation of stacking faults(SFs)induced by the recombination of massive electron-hole pairs during irradiation is the cause of reverse leakage current degradation based on experiments results.The irradiation experiment was carried out based on Ta ions with high linear energy transfer(LET)of 90.5 MeV/(mg/cm^(2)).It is observed that the leakage current of the diode undergoes the permanent increase during irradiation when biased at 20%of the rated reverse voltage.Micro-PL spectroscopy and PL micro-imaging were utilized to detect the presence of SFs in the irradiated SiC JBS diodes.We combined the degraded performance of irradiated samples with SFs introduced by heavy ion irradiation.Finally,three-dimensional(3D)TCAD simulation was employed to evaluate the excessive electron-hole pairs(EHPs)concentration excited by heavy ion irradiation.It was observed that the excessive hole concentration under irradiation exceeded significantly the threshold hole concentration necessary for the expansion of SFs in the substrate.The proposed mechanism suggests that the process and material characteristics of the silicon carbide should be considered in order to reinforcing against the single event effect of SiC power devices.

Suppressing Leakage Currents and Improving Performance of Indoor Organic Photovoltaic Devices

Organic photovoltaic(OPV) devices hold great promise for indoor light harvesting,offering a theoretical upper limit of power conversion efficiency that surpasses that of other photovoltaic technologies.However,the presence of high leakage currents in OPV devices commonly constrains their effective performance under indoor conditions.In this study,we identified that the origin of the high leakage currents in OPV devices lay in pinhole defects present within the active layer(AL).By integrating an automated spin-coating strategy with sequential deposition processes,we achieved the compactness of the AL and minimized the occurrence of pinhole defects therein.Experimental findings demonstrated that with an increase in the number of deposition cycles,the density of pinhole defects in the AL underwent a marked reduction.Consequently,the leakage current experienced a substantial decrease by several orders of magnitude which achieved through well-calibrated AL deposition procedures.This enabled a twofold enhancement in the power conversion efficiency(PCE) of the OPV devices under conditions of indoor illumination.

NiO/β-Ga_(2)O_(3)heterojunction diodes with ultra-low leakage current below 10^(-10)A and high thermostability

The 10 nm p-NiO thin film is prepared by thermal oxidation of Ni onβ-Ga_(2)O_(3)to form NiO/β-Ga_(2)O_(3)p-n heterojunction diodes(HJDs).The NiO/β-Ga_(2)O_(3)HJDs exhibit excellent electrostatic properties,with a high breakdown voltage of 465 V,a specific on-resistance(Ron,sp)of 3.39 mΩ·cm^(2),and a turn-on voltage(V on)of 1.85 V,yielding a static Baliga's figure of merit(FOM)of 256 MW/cm^(2).Also,the HJDs have a low turn-on voltage,which reduces conduction loss dramatically,and a rectification ratio of up to 108.Meanwhile,the HJDs'reverse leakage current is essentially unaffected at temperatures below 170?C,and their leakage level may be controlled below 10^(-10)A.This indicates that p-NiO/β-Ga_(2)O_(3)HJDs with good thermal stability and high-temperature operating ability can be a good option for high-performanceβ-Ga_(2)O_(3)power devices.

A Novel Multi-Functional Leakage Current Protector IC Design

A novel type of leakage current protector chip,implemented in the mixed-signal 0.6μm CMOS process,is presented. This chip has the advantages of low power dissipation （10mW）, accurate protection control based on digital response delay time and integration of multi-functions such as leakage current/over-voltage/over-load detection and protection,auto switch-on and so forth. Additionally, the chip is programmable to suit different three-level protection applications with a high anti-interference ability.

Stress Induced Leakage Current in Different Thickness Ultrathin Gate Oxide MOSFET

A study of the gate current variation is presented for various thickness ultrathin gate oxides ranging from 1.9 to 3.0nm under the constant voltage stress.The experimental results show the stress induced leakage current(SILC) includes two parts.One is due to the interface trap-assisted tunneling.The other is owing to the oxide trap-assisted tunneling.

Modified model of gate leakage currents in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

It has been reported that the gate leakage currents are described by the Frenkel-Poole emission(FPE) model,at temperatures higher than 250 K.However,the gate leakage currents of our passivated devices do not accord with the FPE model.Therefore,a modified FPE model is developed in which an additional leakage current,besides the gate(ⅠⅡ),is added.Based on the samples with different passivations,the ⅠⅡcaused by a large number of surface traps is separated from total gate currents,and is found to be linear with respect to(φB-Vg)0.5.Compared with these from the FPE model,the calculated results from the modified model agree well with the Ig-Vgmeasurements at temperatures ranging from 295 K to 475 K.

The conduction mechanism of stress induced leakage current through ultra-thin gate oxide under constant voltage stresses

The conduction mechanism of stress induced leakage current （SILC） through 2nm gate oxide is studied over a gate voltage range between 1.7V and stress voltage under constant voltage stress （CVS）. The simulation results show that the SILC is formed by trap-assisted tunnelling （TAT） process which is dominated by oxide traps induced by high field stresses. Their energy levels obtained by this work are approximately 1.9eV from the oxide conduction band, and the traps are believed to be the oxygen-related donor-like defects induced by high field stresses. The dependence of the trap density on stress time and oxide electric field is also investigated.

Transport mechanism of reverse surface leakage current in AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor with SiN passivation

The transport mechanism of reverse surface leakage current in the AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor（HEMT） becomes one of the most important reliability issues with the downscaling of feature size.In this paper,the research results show that the reverse surface leakage current in AlGaN/GaN HEMT with SiN passivation increases with the enhancement of temperature in the range from 298 K to 423 K.Three possible transport mechanisms are proposed and examined to explain the generation of reverse surface leakage current.By comparing the experimental data with the numerical transport models,it is found that neither Fowler-Nordheim tunneling nor Frenkel-Poole emission can describe the transport of reverse surface leakage current.However,good agreement is found between the experimental data and the two-dimensional variable range hopping（2D-VRH） model.Therefore,it is concluded that the reverse surface leakage current is dominated by the electron hopping through the surface states at the barrier layer.Moreover,the activation energy of surface leakage current is extracted,which is around 0.083 eV.Finally,the SiN passivated HEMT with a high Al composition and a thin AlGaN barrier layer is also studied.It is observed that 2D-VRH still dominates the reverse surface leakage current and the activation energy is around 0.10 eV,which demonstrates that the alteration of the AlGaN barrier layer does not affect the transport mechanism of reverse surface leakage current in this paper.

Local leakage current behaviours of BiFeO_3 films

The leakage current behaviours of polycrystalline BiFeO3 thin films are investigated by using both conductive atomic force microscopy and current-voltage characteristic measurements. The local charge transport pathways are found to be located mainly at the grain boundaries of the films. The leakage current density can be tuned by changing the post-annealing temperature, the annealing time, the bias voltage and the light illumination, which can be used to improve the performances of the ferroelectric devices based on the BiFeOa films. A possible leakage mechanism is proposed to interpret the charge transports in the polycrystalline BiFeO3 films.

Study of Leakage Current Behaviour on Artificially Polluted Surface of Ceramic Insulator

This paper presents the results of the study concerning to the leakagecurrent behaviour on artificially polluted ceramic insulator surface. From the present study it wasobserved that there is a reasonably well-defined inception of current i.e. scintillations at afinite voltage, The corresponding voltages for extinction of the current are in the range of 0.8 kVto 2.1 kV. Obviously, the dry band formed in the immediate vicinity of the pin prevents smoothcurrent flow as the voltage rises from zero. Only when the voltage is adequate it causes a flashoverof the dry band and current starts flowing. As is common in similar current extinction phenomena,here also, the extinction voltages are significantly lower than the inception voltages. Further, thevoltage-current curves invariably show hysteresis - the leakage currents are lower in the reducingportion of the voltage. This is obviously due to drying of the wet pollutant layer therebyincreasing its resistance. It is believed that this is the first time that such a directquantitative evidence of drying in individual half cycles is experimentally visualized.

On the reverse leakage current of Schottky contacts on free-standing GaN at high reverse biases

In this work, a dislocation-related tunneling leakage current model is developed to explain the temperature-dependent reverse current–voltage（I–V –T） characteristics of a Schottky barrier diode fabricated on free-standing GaN substrate for reverse-bias voltages up to-150 V. The model suggests that the reverse leakage current is dominated by the direct tunneling of electrons from Schottky contact metal into a continuum of states associated with conductive dislocations in GaN epilayer.A reverse leakage current ideality factor, which originates from the scattering effect at metal/GaN interface, is introduced into the model. Good agreement between the experimental data and the simulated I–V curves is obtained.

The Transport Mechanisms of Reverse Leakage Current in Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes

The transport mechanisms of the reverse leakage current in the UV light-emitting diodes （380nm） are investi- gated by the temperature-dependent current-voltage measurement first. Three possible transport mechanisms, the space-limited-charge conduction, the variable-range hopping and the Poole-Frenkel emission, are proposed to explain the transport process of the reverse leakage current above 295 K, respectively. With the in-depth investigation, the former two transport mechanisms are excluded. It is found that the experimental data agree well with the Poole Frenkel emission model. Furthermore, the activation energies of the traps that cause the reverse leakage current are extracted, which are 0.05eV, 0.09eV, and 0.11 eV, respectively. This indicates that at least three types of trap states are located below the bottom of the conduction band in the depletion region of the UV LEDs.

Surface Leakage Currents in SiN and Al_2O_3 Passivated AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors

Surface leakage currents of A1GaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors are investigated by utilizing a circular double-gate structure to eliminate the influence of mesa leakage current. Different mechanisms are found under various passivation conditions. The mechanism of the surface leakage current with AI2 03 passivation follows the two-dimensional variable range hopping model, while the mechanism of the surface leakage current with SiN passivation follows the Frenkel-Poole trap assisted emission. Two trap levels are found in the trap-assisted emission. One trap level has a barrier height of 0.22eV for the high electric field, and the other trap level has a barrier height of 0.12eV for the low electric field.

Effect of surface treatment of GaN based light emitting diode wafers on the leakage current of light emitting diode devices

To form low-resistance Ohmic contact to p-type GaN, InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light emitting diode wafers are treated with boiled aqua regia prior to Ni/Au （5 nm/5 nm） film deposition. The surface morphology of wafers and the current voltage characteristics of fabricated light emitting diode devices are investigated. It is shown that surface treatment with boiled aqua regia could effectively remove oxide from the surface of the p-GaN layer, and reveal defect-pits whose density is almost the same as the screw dislocation density estimated by x-ray rocking curve measurement. It suggests that the metal atoms of the Ni/Au transparent electrode of light emitting diode devices may diffuse into the p-GaN layer along threading dislocation lines and form additional leakage current channels. Therefore, the surface treatment time with boiled aqua regia should not be too long so as to avoid the increase of threading dislocation-induced leakage current and the degradation of electrical properties of light emitting diodes.

Remarkable Improvement of Ferroelectric Properties and Leakage Current in BiFeO_3 Thin Films by Nd Modification

Ferroelectric and leakage properties are important for ferroelectric applications. Pure and Nd-doped（x=0.05-0.20） BiFeO3 thin films were fabricated by sol-gel method on FTO substrates. The phase structure, surface morphology, leakage current, ferroelectric properties, and optical properties of BiFeO3-based thin films were investigated. The substitution of Nd^3＋ ions for the Bi^3＋ site converts the structure from rhombohedral to coexisting tetragonal and orthorhombic. Nd doping improves the crystallinity of BiFeO3 thin films. The leakage current of Nd-doped BiFeO3 decreases by two to three orders of magnitude compared with that of pure BiFeO3. Among the samples, 15% Nd-doped BiFeO3 exhibits the strongest ferroelectric polarization of 17.96 μC/cm^2. Furthermore, the absorption edges of Bi1-xNdxFeO3 thin films show a slight red-shift after Nd doping.

The leakage current mechanisms in the Schottky diode with a thin Al layer insertion between Al_(0.245)Ga_(0.755)N/GaN heterostructure and Ni/Au Schottky contact

This paper investigates the behaviour of the reverse-bias leakage current of the Schottky diode with a thin Al inserting layer inserted between Al0.245Ga0.755N/GaN heterostructure and Ni/Au Schottky contact in the temperature range of 25 350℃. It compares with the Schottky diode without Aluminium inserting layer. The experimental results show that in the Schottky diode with Al layer the minimum point of I-V curve drifts to the minus voltage, and with the increase of temperature increasing, the minimum point of I V curve returns the 0 point. The temperature dependence of gate-leakage currents in the novelty diode and the traditional diode are studied. The results show that the Al inserting layer introduces interface states between metal and Al0.245Ga0.755N. Aluminium reacted with oxygen formed Al2O3 insulator layer which suppresses the trap tunnelling current and the trend of thermionic field emission current. The reliability of the diode at the high temperature is improved by inserting a thin Al layer.

Stress-induced leakage current characteristics of PMOS fabricated by a new multi-deposition multi-annealing technique with full gate last process

In the process of high-k films fabrication, a novel multi deposition multi annealing （MDMA） technique is introduced to replace simple post deposition annealing. The leakage current decreases with the increase of the post deposition annealing （PDA） times. The equivalent oxide thickness （EOT） decreases when the annealing time（s） change from 1 to 2. Furthermore, the characteristics of SILC （stress-induced leakage current） for an ultra-thin SiO2/HfO2 gate dielectric stack are studied systematically. The increase of the PDA time（s） from 1 to 2 can decrease the defect and defect generation rate in the HK layer. However, increasing the PDA times to 4 and 7 may introduce too much oxygen, therefore the type of oxygen vacancy changes.

Effect of SiN:H_x passivation layer on the reverse gate leakage current in GaN HEMTs

This paper concentrates on the impact of SiN passivation layer deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition（PECVD） on the Schottky characteristics in GaN high electron mobility transistors（HEMTs）. Three types of SiN layers with different deposition conditions were deposited on GaN HEMTs. Atomic force microscope（AFM）, capacitance-voltage（C-V）, and Fourier transform infrared（FTIR） measurement were used to analyze the surface morphology, the electrical characterization, and the chemical bonding of SiN thin films, respectively. The better surface morphology was achieved from the device with lower gate leakage current. The fixed positive charge Qf was extracted from C-V curves of Al/SiN/Si structures and quite different density of trap states（in the order of magnitude of 1011-1012 cm^（-2）） was observed.It was found that the least trap states were in accordance with the lowest gate leakage current. Furthermore, the chemical bonds and the %H in Si-H and N-H were figured from FTIR measurement, demonstrating an increase in the density of Qf with the increasing %H in N-H. It reveals that the effect of SiN passivation can be improved in GaN-based HEMTs by modulating %H in Si-H and N-H, thus achieving a better Schottky characteristics.

Effects of Oxygen Concentration in Monocrystalline Silicon on Reverse Leakage Current of PIN Rectifier Diodes

The effects of initial oxygen concentration on the reverse leakage current of PIN rectifier diodes were studied.We fabricated the PIN rectifier diodes with different initial oxygen concentrations,and analyzed the electrical properties,anisotropic preferred etching by means of optical microscopy,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy.It is pointed out that the reverse leakage current increases exponentially with the increasing initial oxygen concentration.Furtherly,we researched and analyzed the mechanism of the effects of initial oxygen concentration on the reverse leakage current of PIN rectifier diode.It is shown that the oxygen precipitations present in an "S" curve with increasing initial oxygen concentration after high temperature diffusion.The main reason is that the nucleation and growth of oxygen precipitation at high temperature induce bulk oxidation-induced defects (B-OSF),which are mainly dislocations,and a small amount of rod stacking faults.The density of B-OSF increases with the increasing initial oxygen concentration.The existence of B-OSF has great effects on the reverse leakage current of PIN rectifier diode.

Leakage current reduction by thermal oxidation in Ni/Au Schottky contacts on lattice-matched In_(0.18)Al_(0.82)N/GaN heterostructures

By using temperature-dependent current-voltage, variable-frequency capacitance-voltage, and Hall measurements, the effects of the thermal oxidation on the electrical properties of Ni/Au Schottky contacts on lattice-matched Ino.18Alo.82N/GaN heterostructures are investigated. Decrease of the reverse leakage current down to six orders of magni- tude is observed after the thermal oxidation of the Ino.18Alo.82N/GaN heterostructures at 700 ℃. It is confirmed that the reverse leakage current is dominated by the Frenkel-Poole emission, and the main origin of the leakage current is the emis- sion of electrons from a trap state near the metal/semiconductor interface into a continuum of electronic states associated with the conductive dislocations in the InxAll-xN barrier. It is believed that the thermal oxidation results in the formation of a thin oxide layer on the InxAll-xN surface, which increases the electron emission barrier height.