(Invited) In-Situ MOCVD Etching of GaN Using XeF2 for Selective-Area-Epitaxial-Regrowth of p-Type GaN for High Voltage PN Diodes
Authors: Allerman Andrew A. , Binder Andrew T. , Armstrong Andrew M. , Steinfeldt Jeffrey , Kaplar Robert J. 
Published: February 2024

PN diodes with multi-kilovolt breakdown voltages have been demonstrated to great than 6 kV in GaN, validating the device potential predicted by the intrinsic material properties of III-nitride semiconductors. However, power control circuits also require switching transistors such as junction field effect transistors (JFETs) and practical diodes such as merged PIN Schottky (MPS) diodes. Such devices usually employ selective areas of p-type semiconductor surrounded by n-type material and require the formation of PN junctions with low reverse leakage current. Selective-area p-type doping in Si and SiC based power devices is typically achieved using implantation and thermal annealing to form the p-type areas. Ion implantation of Mg in GaN has demonstrated p-type conductivity, but this process requires specialized equipment for the high-pressure and high-temperature activation of Mg dopants.

We have investigated selective-area-regrowth (SArG) to epitaxially grow p-type GaN as an alternative to dopant implantation. Successful PN diode formation by SArG requires a process to remove residual crystalline damage resulting from the ex-situ inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etch typically used to form the p-well, as well as a method to remove the elevated level of Si found at the regrowth interface of a surface that had been exposed to air. For the case of SArG of p-GaN on air-exposed, blanket ICP etched n-type GaN, we present the novel use of a fluorine-based precursor (XeF2) for in-situ etching of GaN in the MOCVD chamber. Unlike chlorine (TBCl and CCl4) and bromine (CBr4) -based precursors we have studied; we obtained a smooth surface following in-situ fluorine etching of air-exposed GaN. Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) formed by shadow mask evaporation on in-situ fluorine etched n-GaN that had been previously ICP etched showed reverse leakage currents to -40 V that are equal to those of SBDs formed on as-grown n-GaN layers. The in-situ fluorine/ICP etched Schottky diodes had reverse leakage currents more than 3 orders of magnitude lower than those formed on n-GaN layers that had only experienced ICP etching. This suggests that the in-situ fluorine etch was effective at removing the residual damage from the ICP etch process. Furthermore, we discuss the use of in-situ fluorine etching to reduce the concentration of Si at the regrowth interface required to form PN junctions with low reverse leakage current.

This work was supported in part by the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), U.S. Department of Energy under the PNDIODES program directed by Dr. Isik Kizilyalli, and in part by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) under the Electric Drive Train Consortium. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525. The views expressed in the presentation do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.