Regrowth method for fabricating wide-bandgap transistors, and devices made thereby

Abstract

Methods are provided for fabricating a HEMT (high-electron-mobility transistor) that involve sequential epitaxial growth of III-nitride channel and barrier layers, followed by epitaxial regrowth of further III-nitride material through a window in a mask layer. The regrowth takes place on the barrier layer, only in the access region or regions. Devices made according to the disclosed methods are also provided.

Claims

1. A method for fabricating a high electron mobility transistor of the kind that has a source region, a gate region, a drain region, an access region between the source and gate regions, and an access region between the gate and drain regions, comprising: epitaxially growing a III-nitride channel layer on a substrate; epitaxially growing a III-nitride barrier layer on the III-nitride channel layer; depositing a dielectric mask layer on the barrier layer; opening windows through the dielectric mask layer only in the access regions; and epitaxially regrowing further III-nitride material in the opened access-region windows such that the regrown material interfaces with underlying III-nitride material only in the access regions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing a portion of the further III-nitride material from an upper surface of the dielectric mask layer after the regrowth is finished, and then removing the dielectric mask layer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of removing the dielectric mask layer is performed by etching the dielectric mask layer with a potassium hydroxide based etchant.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising, after removing the dielectric mask layer, placing gate metal in contact with the barrier layer in a channel region of the transistor.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the III-nitride channel layer and the III-nitride barrier layer are grown as materials from the Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN family of materials.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the regrown further III-nitride material has the same composition as the barrier layer.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, while epitaxially regrowing the further III-nitride material in the opened access-region windows, varying the composition of the regrown material such that the regrown material acquires a graded composition.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the composition of the regrown material is varied such that the regrown material is initially the same in composition as the barrier layer but decreases in band gap as the regrowth progresses.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the composition of the regrown material has a formula of the form Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN, x less than or equal to 1, and wherein x decreases as the regrowth progresses.

10. A high electron mobility transistor, comprising: an epitaxial III-nitride channel layer on a substrate; an epitaxial III-nitride barrier layer on the channel layer; and an access-region epitaxial III-nitride regrowth; wherein-the access-region epitaxial III-nitride regrowth consists of material grown epitaxially on the barrier layer solely in one or more access regions of the transistor between the source and the gate and/or between the gate and the drain.

11. The transistor of claim 10, wherein the III-nitride channel layer and the III-nitride barrier layer have compositions from the Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN family of materials.

12. The transistor of claim 10, further comprising gate metal in contact with the barrier layer in a channel region of the transistor.

13. The transistor of claim 10, wherein at least an initial portion of the access-region epitaxial III-nitride regrowth material is compositionally matched to the barrier layer.

14. The transistor of claim 10, wherein the access-region epitaxial III-nitride regrowth material has a graded composition.

15. The transistor of claim 10, wherein the access-region epitaxial III-nitride regrowth material has a graded composition that initially matches the barrier layer but that progressively decreases in band gap.

16. The transistor of claim 10, wherein the access-region epitaxial III-nitride regrowth material has a graded composition with a formula of the form Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN, x less than or equal to 1, and wherein x decreases with distance from the barrier layer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a notional diagram of a HEMT as known in the prior art.

(2) Our AlN/Al.sub.0.85Ga.sub.0.15N HEMT, as reported in Baca 2016, is shown schematically in FIG. 2A. As seen, the left-hand image in the figure is a cross section, and the right-hand image is a plan view.

(3) FIGS. 2B and 2C provide views of alternative structures for the source and drain contact regions that can be formed using our regrowth procedure.

(4) The steps of a process flow for the HEMT of FIGS. 2A-2C are summarized in FIG. 3.

(5) A device embodying a new approach for reducing contact resistance is shown in notional cross section in FIG. 4.

(6) FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example implementation of an example process flow for fabricating the HEMT of FIG. 4.

(7) FIG. 6 illustrates, in notional cross section, a HEMT made according to a new technique for improving the channel resistivity in III-nitride HEMTs.

(8) FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example process for fabricating the HEMT of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(9) FIG. 1 is a notional diagram of a HEMT as known in the prior art. Various details have been omitted to simplify the presentation. The HEMT is a heterojunction device. The channel layer 100 is shown in the figure as overlying a buffer layer 102 and a substrate 104. The channel layer has a smaller bandgap than the overlying barrier layer 106. Additionally, the wider-bandgap barrier layer can be doped n-type to contribute conduction electrons, although there are implementations that are operative without this feature. In operation, conduction electrons accumulate in a potential well that forms on the channel-layer side of the channel-barrier interface, thus forming a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) 108. The 2DEG provides a low-resistivity path through the device channel.

(10) Typically, the metal contact layers 110, 112 for the source and drain are designed to make Ohmic contact to the underlying semiconductor material, whereas the gate contact 114 is designed to form a Schottky junction with the underlying semiconductor. The gate metal does not typically cover the entire area between the source and the gate. Instead, the gate metal is bounded by a so-called access region or access regions 116 as indicated in the figure.

(11) AlN/Al.sub.0.85Ga.sub.0.15N High Electron Mobility Transistor with Regrown Contact Regions

(12) HEMTs based on the AlGaN/GaN materials system are attracting increasing attention, especially for applications in radio-frequency electronics and power switching. In some examples, the channel and barrier layers have compositions represented respectively by Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN and Al.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN, where y is greater than x. The greater proportion of aluminum relative to gallium in the barrier layer causes the barrier-layer bandgap to be greater than the channel-layer bandgap. In the limit of y=1, an AlN barrier layer can be provided.

(13) There is interest in increasing the aluminum coefficient x in the channel layer in order to drive up the breakdown voltage (which scales with bandgap), and by that token to increase the LFOM. An optimal tradeoff is believed to exist near x=0.85, because the sheet charge n.sub.s falls off for greater values of x.

(14) In Albert G. Baca et al., An AlN/Al.sub.0.85Ga.sub.0.15N high electron mobility transistor, Appl. Phys. Lett. 109, 033509 (2016) (hereinafter, Baca 2016), the entirety of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, we reported a HEMT with an AlN barrier layer and an AlGaN channel layer with x=0.85.

(15) Our AlN/Al.sub.0.85Ga.sub.0.15N HEMT, as reported in Baca 2016, is shown schematically in FIG. 2A. As seen, the left-hand image in the figure is a cross section, and the right-hand image is a plan view.

(16) The epitaxial layer structure for the HEMT of FIG. 2A was grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on a sapphire substrate 200. The essential elements of the epitaxial structure consisted of an AlN nucleation and buffer layer 202 grown thick enough, exemplarily 1.7 m thick, to planarize on the sapphire substrate, a 400-nm, 85% Al-containing AlGaN buffer and channel layer 204, and a 48-nm-thick AlN barrier 206. All three of these layers were grown without intentional doping.

(17) A circular HEMT with gate length of 2.0 m and circumference of 314 m (defined at gate center) was lithographically defined. The fabrication used six layers of photolithography.

(18) First, the source and drain contacts 208, 210 were prepared by dry etching the AlN barrier and then regrowing n+ silicon-doped GaN in place of the etched-out AlN. The dry etch was done by inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) using a boron trichloride/chlorine/argon plasma. The GaN was regrown by MOCVD using a SiN dielectric mask. The regrowth procedure that we used bore certain similarities to the procedure known as epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELOG).

(19) In ELOG regrowth, the initial growth of the regrown material takes place through apertures in the dielectric mask. When the growth reaches the upper mask surface, it spreads laterally to overgrow the dielectric mask while continuing to grow vertically. This technique has been usefully applied in other contexts because the growth mechanisms related to the lateral growth suppress the upward propagation of threading discontinuities into the overgrown material.

(20) In our regrowth procedure, substrate areas where GaN deposition was not desired were protected by a SiN mask 216 (see FIGS. 2B and 2C). The GaN regrowth in the source and drain regions was an application of selective area growth (SAG) techniques, because the SiN mask suppressed GaN growth in the regions where it was not desired. In distinction to ELOG, however, we did not seek to overgrow the SiN dielectric mask with the regrown GaN.

(21) FIG. 2A further shows metal contacts respectively labeled S, G, and D for the source, gate, and drain, and SiN passivation 212.

(22) FIGS. 2B and 2C provide views of alternative structures for the source and drain contact regions that can be formed using our regrowth procedure. FIG. 2C additionally shows an Ohmic metal contact 214, which is formed in a later step. Like reference numerals are used where similar features are shown in preceding figures.

(23) We confirmed by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) that the GaN:Si had grown conformally over the exposed AlGaN and AlN surfaces. This is significant because it makes it less likely that an exposed and depleted AlGaN surface will add substantial parasitic resistance.

(24) The SiN mask 216 was removed. An example removal technique is chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). Another example is wet etching, as described below in the section titled An Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN/Al.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN HEMT with compositionally graded source and drain.

(25) Conventional Ti/Al/Ni/Au metal stacks 214 for the source and drain were deposited with alloying by rapid thermal anneal (RTA) for thirty seconds at 850 C. A Schottky gate metal with a Ni/Au metal stack was formed between the source and drain contact regions. A SiN passivation and via etch was carried out. A second Ni/Au metal stack was deposited for pad metal. A further layer of SiN was deposited for more device passivation, and a via etch was performed using conventional techniques.

(26) Testing of completed HEMTs that were fabricated as described above confirmed a breakdown voltage of 810 V, gate leakage within favorable limits, an I.sub.on/I.sub.off current ratio greater than 10.sup.7, and a favorable subthreshold slope of 75 mV/decade.

(27) The steps of the process flow described above are summarized in FIG. 3, to which reference will now be made.

(28) The regrowth of silicon-doped GaN is performed in steps 301-307. At 301, the SiN mask is deposited for masking the gate and access regions. At 302, the mask is photolithographically patterned using photoresist. At 303, windows are etched open in the SiN mask for etching of the underlying AlN. At 304, AlN is removed by dry etch from the source and drain regions. At 305, the photoresist is removed. At 306, the regrowth is performed for the source and drain. At 307, the SiN mask is removed.

(29) The Ohmic contacts for the source and drain are fabricated in steps 308-311 using a liftoff process. At 308, the metal pattern is defined by photolithography. At 309, the metal for the Ohmic contacts is deposited through openings in a photoresist. At 310, the photoresist is lifted off. At 311, the contacts are annealed by RTA (rapid thermal anneal).

(30) The metal gate contact is fabricated in steps 312-314 using a liftoff process. At 312, the metal pattern is defined by photolithography. At 313, the metal for the gate contact is deposited by evaporation through an opening in a photoresist. At 314, the photoresist is lifted off.

(31) At 315, a SiN passivation layer is deposited. Openings for contact pads are photolithographically defined at 316 and etched in the SiN passivation layer at 317.

(32) An Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN/Al.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN HEMT with compositionally graded source and drain

(33) As noted above, the channel layer of a HEMT is constructed from a material (e.g. Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN) with both an abrupt interface to a barrier layer (e.g. Al.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN) and a smaller bandgap than the barrier layer (thus in the AlGaN example, y>x) in order to provide charge confinement. Although large bandgaps for the channel and barrier layers contribute to a favorable LFOM, increasing the bandgaps can also make it more difficult to provide low-resistance contacts. In the Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN/Al.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN system, this problem becomes significant for x>0.3 and gets progressively worse as x approaches 0.9.

(34) In some known approaches, the Al.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN (nominally, higher-bandgap) semiconductor is graded from a high-aluminum AlGaN composition characteristic of the barrier layer to a low-aluminum AlGaN composition (or even a zero-aluminum GaN composition) at the surface.

(35) This provides a solution to the problem of non-Ohmic contacts, because the contact metal layers form an interface with a semiconductor of lower bandgap. In the case of enhancement mode devices, however, it is preferable for devices made under this approach to include a recessed gate in the HEMT structure. Recessed gates are disadvantageous in some respects because, e.g., the recessed gate etching is difficult to control and has intrinsic non-uniformity. Moreover, including a recessed gate in the device structure may also lead to a need to add gate insulators to suppress leakage. Gate leakage tends to arise, for example, due to the creation of crystalline defects resulting from dry etching.

(36) A recessed gate, AlGaN/GaN HEMT is reported, e.g., in V. Kumar et al., Recessed 0.25 m gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on SiC with high gate-drain breakdown voltage using ICP-RIE, Elec. Lett. 37, 1483 (2001), and in Y. Okamoto et al., Improved Power Performance for a Recessed-Gate AlGaNGaN Heterojunction FET With a Field-Modulating Plate, IEEE Trans. Microwave Th. Tech., 52, 2536 (2004).

(37) We have a new approach for reducing contact resistance. A device embodying our new approach is shown in notional cross section in FIG. 4, to which reference will now be made. Like reference numerals are used in the figure where similar features are shown in preceding figures.

(38) In our new approach, we selectively etch out voids in the barrier layer 400, but only in the source and drain regions. We then fill the voids by regrowing AlGaN source and drain contact regions 402, 404 with compositional grading of the regrown AlGaN in order to provide Ohmic contacts. The semiconductor region between the source and drain is protected by a dielectric hard mask layer such as a silicon nitride layer to prevent overgrowth by the graded AlGaN contact material.

(39) An epitaxial regrowth process would be advantageous for assuring that the graded AlGaN grows only in the source and drain contact region and not on top of the protective mask. However, we have not at present identified a protective layer composition that is suitable when the aluminum coefficient x is non-zero. The reason is that aluminum has a high sticking coefficient to many, if not all, of the known insulator materials.

(40) We therefore adopted an alternative approach in which during the source and drain growth of the graded material, the material is also deposited on top of the protective layer, from which it is subsequently removed. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is one possible method for removing the graded AlGaN from the region of the protective layer without removing it from the source and drain regions.

(41) The graded material deposited on the protective layer will typically be non-single-crystalline. Typically, when material is not single-crystalline, it is more readily removed by etching than comparable single-crystalline material. This facilitates the removal of the graded material by chemical etching as an alternative to CMP.

(42) Of course, the removal of the graded layer from over the SiN protective layer may have the undesirable side effect of also removing some of the regrown layer from the region where it is wanted. We have observed, however, that group III terminated surfaces tend to resist etching by potassium hydroxide. Epitaxially grown AlGaN, particularly if grown with a c-axis orientation, will have surfaces terminated by gallium atoms and to some extent by aluminum atoms. Such surfaces can serve as effective etch stops for suitable wet etchants. We have found that one etchant suitable in this regard is AZ 400K, a well-known photolithography developer based on buffered potassium hydroxide.

(43) We have found that an etch using a potassium hydroxide based wet etchant such as AZ 400K will benefit both from the non-single-crystalline morphology of the graded layer in the regions from which it is to be removed, and from its intrinsic resistance to etching in the regions where it is to be retained. Accordingly, it is possible to expose the SiN protective layer without significant damage to the desired regrowth. As noted, the exposed SiN can later be removed in a separate etching step.

(44) FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example implementation of the process flow described above for fabricating the HEMT of FIG. 4. Reference will now be made to FIG. 5.

(45) The voids in the AlN barrier layer are created in steps 501-508. The SiN protective layer is deposited as a hard mask at 501, photolithographically defined using a photoresist at 502, and etched at 503 to open windows for etching the underlying AlN. The source and drain regions of the AlN barrier layer are etched through the opened windows at 504, and the photoresist is removed at 505.

(46) The metal contacts for the source and drain are fabricated using a liftoff process in steps 509-512. The photoresist is deposited and patterned at 509. The contact metal is deposited at 510. The photoresist is lifted off at 511, and the contacts are annealed by RTA at 512.

(47) The metal gate contact is created in steps 513-515 using a liftoff process. The photoresist is deposited and patterned at 513. The gate metal is evaporatively deposited at 514. The photoresist is lifted off at 515.

(48) A SiN passivation layer is deposited at 516, photolithographically patterned for contact pads at 517, and etched for the contact pads at 518.

(49) HEMT with Access Region Regrowth

(50) We have developed a technique for improving the channel resistivity in III-nitride HEMTs such as Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN/Al.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN HEMTS by regrowing semiconductor material in the access region or access regions. A HEMT made according to our new technique is shown in notional cross section in FIG. 6, to which reference will now be made. Like reference numerals are used in the figure where similar features are shown in preceding figures.

(51) An initial epitaxial growth of Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN/Al.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN is chosen to set the threshold voltage of the HEMT for enhancement-mode operation. This step uses an epitaxial growth process that is optimized for HEMT operation. The thickness of the HEMT barrier layer 206 can be selected as a design parameter for setting the threshold voltage.

(52) The wafer is then masked with a dielectric hard mask layer suitable for protection of the HEMT channel against epitaxial regrowth. One example of a suitable masking material is SiN.

(53) The dielectric mask is patterned using photoresist and a lithography step followed by etching to open or define regions of the wafer for regrowth.

(54) The photoresist is then removed. Then, the SiN-patterned HEMT structure is transported to an epitaxial growth chamber for regrowth, exemplarily by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).

(55) The regrown material 616 will typically have the same composition as the underlying barrier layer 206 or a similar composition to it, although this is not a strict requirement. For some applications, it may be advantageous to grade the composition of the regrown material. For example, the regrowth can have a bandwidth that initially matches the composition of the underlying barrier layer, but that progressively decreases. An example is an Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN composition in which x is initially 1 or a relatively high value less than 1, and x decreases during the regrowth.

(56) Selective area growth (SAG) would be possible for some compositions of regrown material if a selective mask composition were available that would exclude the regrown material from over the protected areas. However, it will be more typical for a regrown material such as AlGaN to coat the entire wafer, including the protective masking layer. In such a case the regrown barrier layer may be removed from the protective mask layer by a technique such as chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) or wet etching.

(57) The protective layer is subsequently removed to allow space for placement of the gate metal 615 in contact with the barrier layer in the channel region of the device. An example removal technique is chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). Another example is wet etching, as described above in the section titled An Al.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN/Al.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN HEMT with compositionally graded source and drain.

(58) Conventional process steps are followed for placement of the metal stack for the source and drain contacts, placement of the gate contact, dielectric passivation 212, and placement of pads for testing and packaging. Any of various design features known as enhancements for HEMT devices may be included. Examples of such features are field plates and air bridges.

(59) FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example process as described above for fabricating the HEMT of FIG. 6. Reference will now be made to FIG. 7.

(60) The access region regrowth is performed at steps 701-707. A SiN hard mask is deposited at 701, photolithographically patterned using a photoresist at 702, and etched at 703 to open windows for the regrowth. The photoresist is removed at 704. The regrowth of barrier-region material is performed at 705, regrown material is removed at 706 from over the SiN hard mask, and the SiN hard mask is removed at 707.

(61) The metal contacts for the source and drain are fabricated using a liftoff process in steps 708-711. The photoresist is deposited and patterned at 708. The contact metal is deposited at 709. The photoresist is lifted off at 710, and the contacts are annealed by RTA at 711.

(62) The metal gate contact is created in steps 712-714 using a liftoff process. The photoresist is deposited and patterned at 712. The gate metal is evaporatively deposited at 713. The photoresist is lifted off at 714.

(63) A SiN passivation layer is deposited at 715, photolithographically patterned for contact pads at 716, and etched for the contact pads at 717.

(64) Combined Techniques.

(65) Either of the techniques described above for regrowing source and drain contact material may be combined with the above-described technique for regrowing additional barrier layer material in the access regions. Thus, the benefits of both types of techniques may be enjoyed in the same resulting HEMT device.