Abstract:
A compound semiconductor device wherein a contact to an n type Al x  Ga 1-x  As layer comprises an In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer, an In x  Ga 1-x  As contact layer having a constant composition and a metal electrode layer, the In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer is doped with an n type impurity which concentration is higher than a concentration of an impurity activated as n type, whereby, even when a thickness of the In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer is made sufficiently small, a reduction in the carrier concentration of the thin graded-composition layer causes no increase of its resistance and a low-resistance contact is realized.

Description:
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/617,175 filed Nov. 23, 1990, now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to compound semiconductor devices and more particularly, to formation of a contact to an n type Al x  Ga 1-x  As (0≦×≦1) material. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     GaAs has been considered to offer a very promising prospect as a material for a high speed device, because the material has a mobility of about 6 times larger than that of silicon (Si) and can be easily made into a semi-insulating substrate. 
     Al x  Ga 1-x  As obtained by adding aluminum (Al) to GaAs is very close in lattice constant to GaAs and allows good epitaxial growth with GaAs. For this reason, attention has been increasingly directed to development of heterojunction devices based on an Al x  Ga 1-x  As/GaAs heterojunction. 
     As a result, many sorts of devices have been developed, including, for example, an Al x  Ga 1-x  As/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) having a wide gap emitter of Al x  Ga 1-x  As, and a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) having an electron supply layer of Al x  Ga 1-x  As. 
     For the purpose of enhancing the performances of these devices, it is very important to reduce the resistance of their ohmic contact. 
     Generally speaking, it is difficult to form an ohmic contact of low resistance on an Al x  Ga 1-x  As layer (0&lt;×≦1). For this reason, even when such an Al x  Ga 1-x  As layer must be placed as the top layer of a device, an n +  type GaAs layer has been formed on the Al x  Ga 1-x  As layer as a cap layer for the ohmic contact. To this end, the composition of metal material of its electrodes, the temperature of heat treatment for the formation of the alloy, etc., have been correspondingly devised. 
     Since these GaAs and Al x  Ga 1-x  As materials are large in band gap and low in the upper limit of obtained electron concentration when compared with Si material, the reduction of the ohmic contact resistance is limited thereby. 
     To overcome this, there has been proposed a method of using In x  Ga 1-x  As material having a band gap smaller than the Al x  Ga 1-x  As or GaAs as a contact layer (refer to J. Vac. Sci. Technol., 19 (3), 1981, pp626-627). 
     FIG. 5 shows, as one of such prior art examples, an ideal energy band between an n type GaAs layer and a metallic electrode with an n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As layer and an n +  InAs layer interposed therebetween at the time of forming a contact to the n type GaAs. For the purpose of smoothly connecting together the bands of the GaAs and InAs layers, the graded-composition layer of the In x  Ga 1-x  As material (x=0→1) is inserted between the GaAs and InAs layers. Since no Schottky barrier is present between the InAs layer and the electrode, a low resistance contact can be obtained. 
     However, there is a lattice misalignment as large as about 7% between the InAs and GaAs layers. 
     This lattice misalignment causes the InGaAs layer to be subjected to a misfit dislocation. In the event where the thickness of the InGaAs layer is below its critical thickness, no misfit dislocation takes place. When it is desired to form an ohmic contact of lower resistance, however, it is preferable that an In mixed crystal ratio x is closer to 1 and the critical thickness becomes correspondingly smaller. When the InGaAs layer has a mixed crystal ratio x of 0.5, its critical thickness is below several ten Å. In addition, as the mixed crystal ratio x is closer to 1, the thickness of the In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer necessary for smoothly connecting the bands of the InAs and GaAs layers is larger. Meanwhile, when the element performance, process, etc., are taken into consideration, it is preferable to make small the thickness of the contact layer. From these reasons, when an ohmic contact of low resistance is to be formed with use of a practical structure, the occurrence of a misfit dislocation cannot be avoided. 
     Furthermore, the occurrence of such a misfit dislocation is concentrated, in particular, in the In x  Ga 1-x  As as an intermediate layer to compensate for the carriers in this area, which involves a problem that the carrier concentration is reduced. 
     It is known that the upper limit of the usual carrier concentration, which depends on the epitaxial growth conditions and so on, is about 2×10 19  cm -3  and about 1×10 19  cm -3  for InAs and GaAs respectively. In the case of the InAs/In x  Ga 1-x  As/GaAs structure, a large carrier concentration dip occurs, in particular, in the intermediate layer of In x  Ga 1-x  As. When the thickness of the In x  Ga 1-x  As is made sufficiently large, the dislocation density (cm -3 ) is also reduced and the carrier concentration dip is correspondingly decreased. 
     When consideration is paid to the application of such a structure to a semiconductor device having an n type ohmic contact, however, it is not practical to increase the layer thickness. 
     Turning now to FIG. 6, there is shown a measurement result of carrier concentration distribution in the InAs/In x  Ga 1-x  As/GaAs structure doped with silicon. In the drawing, the film thickness of the In x  Ga 1-x  As layer was set to be 500Å and 1.5×10 19  cm -3  of silicon was doped into the InAs and In x  Ga 1-x  As. As will be seen from the drawing, the carrier concentration largely drops in the In x  Ga 1-x  As layer and there is an area therein where the carrier concentration is substantially zero especially in the vicinity of the interface with the GaAs layer. Under such a condition, the contact resistance when a current x flows in a vertical direction with respect to the semiconductor layer was as high as 5×10 -6  Ω cm 2 . 
     Thus, the conventional structure has had such a problem that, even when a low-resistance contact can be obtained at the InAs/electrode interface, it is impossible for the entire contact to have a sufficiently low resistance. 
     In this way, the conventional method of forming the ohmic contact to the n type GaAs layer using the In x  Ga 1-x  As layer has had a problem that the carrier compensation caused by the misfit dislocation causes the reduction of the carrier concentration, which results in that an area having a high resistance is formed and the contact resistance becomes correspondingly large. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to realize an ohmic contact having a very low resistance, which can avoid such a problem in the prior art that, at the time of forming an ohmic contact to an n type GaAs layer using an In x  Ga 1-x  As layer, reduction in the carrier concentration of the In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer causes formation of a high-resistance layer. 
     According to the present invention, in forming a metal electrode layer on an n type Al x  Ga 1-x  As layer via an In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer and an In x  Ga 1-x  As contact layer having a constant composition, the In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer doped with an n type impurity which concentration is higher than a concentration of an impurity to be activated as n type is used. 
     And desirably, a carrier concentration of an area within the In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer which area is contacted with the In x  Ga 1-x  As contact layer is set higher than a carrier concentration of an area therewithin which area is contacted with the Al x  Ga 1-x  As layer. 
     Further, preferably, an n type impurity concentration of an area within the In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer which area is contacted with the In x  Ga 1-x  As contact layer is set higher than an n type impurity concentration of an area therewithin which area is contacted with the Al x  Ga 1-x  As layer. 
     The inventors of the present application have studied and conducted many tests on the basis of measurement results of carrier concentration distribution in such an InAs/In x  Ga 1-x  As/GaAs structure doped with silicon as shown in FIG. 6, and eventually found the fact that, when the amount of n type impurity doped into the In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer is set to be remarkably large, a large dip or drop in the carrier concentration within the composition layer can be eliminated. 
     The present invention is based on this fact. 
     That is, in accordance with the present invention, the In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer is doped with an n type impurity which concentration is higher than an n type-activated impurity concentration so that, even when a current is vertically passed through the semiconductor device, a very low contact can be attained. 
     In this case, when a carrier concentration of an area within the In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer which area is contacted with the In x  Ga 1-x  As contact layer is set higher than a carrier concentration of an area therewithin which area is contacted with the Al x  Ga 1-x  As layer, the contact resistance can be further reduced. 
     Further, when an n type impurity concentration of an area within the In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer which area is contacted with the In x  Ga 1-x  As contact layer is set higher than an n type impurity concentration of an area therewithin which area is contacted with the Al x  Ga 1-x  As layer, the carrier concentration within the graded-composition layer can be increased and the contact resistance can be much more reduced. 
     From our experimental results, it is desirable that the impurity concentration is set to be above 3×10 19  cm -3 . 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a heterojunction bipolar transistor in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2(a) is a graph showing a relationship between n type impurity concentration and depth for respective layers of an emitter contact portion in the transistor of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 2(b) is a graph showing a relationship between carrier concentration and depth for the same layers; 
     FIG. 3(a) is a graph showing a relationship between n type impurity concentration and depth for respective layers of an emitter contact portion in a transistor in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3(b) is a graph showing a relationship between carrier concentration and depth for the layers in the same transistor; 
     FIG. 4(a) is a graph showing a relationship between n type impurity concentration and depth for respective layers of an emitter contact portion in a transistor in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4(b) is a graph showing a relationship between carrier concentration and depth for the layers in the same transistor; 
     FIG. 5 shows an ideal energy band for a structure of an n type GaAs layer, n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As layer and an InAs electrode; and 
     FIG. 6 is a graph showing a relationship between carrier concentration and depth for respective layers of a conventional n type GaAs/n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As/InAs electrode structure doped with silicon. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown, in cross section, a heterojunction bipolar transistor which is based on AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction in accordance with the present invention. 
     The heterojunction bipolar transistor shown in FIG. 1 includes a collector contact layer 2 formed on a semi-insulating substrate 1, a collector layer 3, which may be formed of an n type GaAs material, formed on collector contact layer 2, a base layer 4, which may be formed of a p type Al x  Ga 1-x  As material where 0≦×&lt;1, formed on collector layer 3, a constant-composition emitter layer 5, which may be formed of an n type Al x  Ga 1-x  As material where 0≦×≦1, formed on base layer 4, and a graded-composition emitter layer 6, which may be formed of an n type Al x  Ga 1-x  As material where 0≦×≦1, formed on constant-composition emitter layer 5. An emitter contact formed on graded-composition emitter layer 6 includes an Al x  Ga 1-x  As constant-composition layer 7 where 0≦×≦1, an In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer 8 where 0≦×≦1, and an In x  Ga 1-x  As constant-composition contact layer 9 where 0&lt;×≦1. A metal electrode 10 is formed on an In x  Ga 1-x  As constant-composition contact layer 9. 
     Specific embodiments of the present invention will be discussed in detail with reference to the attached drawings. 
     EMBODIMENT 1 
     The illustrated heterojunction bipolar transistor is characterized in that a contact to an emitter layer made up of an n type Al 0 .3 Ga 0 .7 As layer 5 of 2000 Å thickness and an n type Al x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer (x=0.3→0) 6 of 300 Å thickness comprises an n +  type GaAs layer 7 of 500 Å thickness, an n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer (x=0→1) 8 of 400 Å thickness and an n +  type InAs layer 9 of 400 Å, and in that the n +  type InAs layer 9 and n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As layer 8 are set to have both a high impurity concentration of 3.5×10 19  cm -3  and an emitter electrode 10 of Cr/Au material is formed on the n +  type InAs layer 9. In this case, the measured impurity concentration of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As layer 8 is 3.5×10 19  cm -3  as shown in FIG. 2(a). Si is used as the n type impurity and Be is used as the p type impurity. 
     More specifically, in the heterojunction bipolar transistor, its element region includes an n +  type GaAs layer 2 of 5000 Å thickness formed on a semi-insulating GaAs substrate 1 as a collector contact layer, an n -  type GaAs layer 3 of 5000 Å as a low-concentration collector layer, a p +  type GaAs layer 4 of 1000 Å as a base layer, the n type Al 0 .3 Ga 0 .7 As layer 5 of 2000 Å forming the emitter layer, and the n type Al x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer (x=0.3→0) 6 of 300 Å, these layers being sequentially formed in this order. The contact to the emitter layer includes the n +  type GaAs layer 7, the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer (x=0→1) 8 and the n +  type InAs layer 9. 
     The emitter, base and collector electrodes 10, 11 and 12 are provided to the corresponding layers respectively. 
     The respective semiconductor layers of this heterojunction bipolar transistor are formed on the substrate by one of a number of possible epitaxial growth techniques including a molecular beam epitaxy technique (MBE technique), a gas source molecular beam epitaxy technique (GSMBE technique) and metal organic CVD technique (MOCVD technique). In the illustrated embodiment, the MBE technique is employed. 
     In the present embodiment, the x in the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer (x=0→1) 8 is set to increase from 0 to 1 from its bottom to top, whereby the conduction bands of the n +  type GaAs layer 7 and n +  type InAs layer 9 can be smoothly connected together. 
     Actually measured results of the carrier concentration for the n +  type GaAs layer 7, n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As intermediate layer or graded-composition layer (x=0→1) 8 as an intermediate layer and n +  type InAs layer 9 in the HBT are shown in FIG. 2(b). As will be observed from the drawing, a dip in the carrier concentration of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As intermediate layer is remarkably shallow as compared with that in the prior art. 
     An emitter contact resistance of the HBT thus obtained was 7×10 -8  Ωcm 2 , which is very small compared with 5×10 -6  Ωcm 2  in the prior art HBT. 
     In this way, in accordance with the HBT of the present invention, since the emitter resistance can be made very low, its transconductance Gm can be improved over the prior art HBT and therefore the HBT of the present invention can be operated in a high current density zone. 
     With respect to a cut-off frequency f T  as one of the performance criteria of a transistor, the present invention has a cut-off frequency f T  of 90 GHz that is remarkably improved over 70 GHz of the prior art. 
     Given below in Table 1 are measurement results of impurity concentration and corresponding contact specific resistance of the HBT having the same structure as above but when only the impurity concentration of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As intermediate layer 8 is varied. 
     
                       TABLE 1______________________________________n type impurity concentrationof In.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x As intermediate              Contact specificlayer              resistances obtained______________________________________5 × 10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3              About 8 × 10.sup.-6 Ωcm.sup.21.5 × 10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3              About 5 × 10.sup.-6 Ωcm.sup.23 × 10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3              About 7 × 10.sup.-8 Ωcm.sup.25 × 10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3              About 5 × 10.sup.-8 Ωcm.sup.2______________________________________ 
    
     In this case, the upper limit of the obtained in type carrier concentrations is about 2×10 19  cm -3  but as will be seen from the above Table 1, when the impurity concentration of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As intermediate layer 8 is set to be above 3×10 19  cm -3 , a very low contact resistance can be obtained. 
     EMBODIMENT 2 
     Explanation will next be made as to an HBT of a second embodiment of the present invention, which has the same structure as the HBT of the embodiment 1 of FIG. 1 and wherein the impurity concentration of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer 8 is varied therein. 
     More in detail, in the HBT of the embodiment 2, the n type impurity concentration of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer 8 is set to gradually decrease from its side of the n +  type GaAs layer 7 to the side of the n +  type InAs layer 9, as shown in FIG. 3(a). In other words, the HBT of the present embodiment 2 is arranged so that the n type impurity concentration of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer 8 is gradually decreased from its n +  type GaAs layer 7 side to its n +  type InAs layer 9 side as shown in FIG. 3(a). That is, the n type impurity concentration d1 of the area of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer 8 contacted with the GaAs layer 7 is set higher than the n type impurity concentration d2 of that area of the layer 8 contacted with the n +  type InAs layer 9. In the present embodiment, the n type impurity concentration d2 of the layer 8 contacted with the InAs contact layer 9 was set at 3.5×10 19  cm -3  while the n type impurity concentration d1 of the area contacted with the GaAs layer 7 is set at 4.0×10 19  cm -3 . 
     FIG. 3(b) shows measured results of the carrier concentrations for the n +  type GaAs layer 7, n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As intermediate or graded-composition layer (x=0→1) 8 and n +  type InAs layer 9 of the HBT. It will be appreciated from the drawing that any appreciable dip in the carrier concentration is not present within the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As intermediate layer 8 and the carrier concentration D2 of that area of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer 8 which is contacted with the InAs contact layer 9 is higher than the carrier concentration D1 of that area of the layer 8 contacted with the GaAs layer. 
     The emitter contact resistance of the thus obtained HBT was 5×10 -8  Ωcm 2 , which was smaller than the emitter contact resistance of the HBT of the embodiment 1 and that was much smaller than 5×10 -6  Ωcm 2  in the prior art HBT. 
     In this way, in the case of the HBT of the embodiment 2, since the emitter resistance can be made very small, the transconductance Gm can be further improved and the HBT can be operated in a higher current density zone. 
     With regard to the cut-off frequency f T  as one of the performance indexes of a transistor, the HBT has a cut-off frequency f T  of 100 GHz that is much improved over that of the HBT of the embodiment 1. 
     Given below in Table 2 are measurement results of impurity concentration and corresponding contact specific resistance of the HBT having the same structure as above but when only the impurity concentration of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As intermediate layer 8 is varied. 
     
                       TABLE 2______________________________________n type impurity concentrationof In.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x As intermediate              Contact specificlayer              resistances obtained______________________________________d1: 7 × 10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3              About 7 × 10.sup.-6 Ωcm.sup.2d2: 5 × 10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3d1: 2 × 10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3              About 5 × 10.sup.-6 Ωcm.sup.2d2: 1 × 10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3d1: 5 × 10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3              About 7 × 10.sup.-8 Ωcm.sup.2d2: 3 × 10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3d1: 7 × 10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3              About 3 × 10.sup.-8 Ωcm.sup.2d2: 5 × 10.sup.19 cm.sup.-3______________________________________ 
    
     In this case, the upper limit of the obtained n type carrier concentrations is about 2×10 19  cm -3  but as will be seen from the above Table 2, when the impurity concentration of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As intermediate layer 8 is set to be above 3×10 19  cm -3 , a very low contact resistance can be obtained. 
     EMBODIMENT 3 
     In the HBT of the foregoing embodiment 2, the impurity concentration of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer 8 has been set to be gradually decreased from its GaAs layer 7 side to its InAs contact layer 9 side. In the present embodiment 3, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the n type impurity concentration of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer 8 is set to have a high level in an area within the layer 8 located apart from that area of the layer 8 contacted with the InAs contact layer 9 by a short distance, and to be gradually decreased from the high-level area to that area of the layer 8 contacted with the GaAs layer 7. FIG. 4(b) shows measured results of the carrier concentrations for the n +  type GaAs layer 7, n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As intermediate or graded-composition layer (x=0→1) 8 and n +  type InAs layer 9 of the HBT. It will be observed from the drawing that any appreciable dip in the carrier concentration is not present within the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As intermediate layer 8 and the carrier concentration D2 of that area of the n +  type In x  Ga 1-x  As graded-composition layer 8 which is contacted with the InAs contact layer 9 is higher than the carrier concentration D1 of that area of the layer 8 contacted with the GaAs layer. And the emitter contact resistance of the thus obtained HBT was 4×10 -8  Ωcm 2  that was much smaller than the emitter contact resistances of the HBTs of the foregoing embodiments. 
     The impurity concentration and thickness of the respective semiconductor layers in the HBT are not limited to the particular values used in the foregoing embodiments and may be modified as necessary. 
     In addition, the present invention may be modified in various ways within the sprit and scope of the attached claims.