Group III-V transistor with semiconductor field plate
09673286 ยท 2017-06-06
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
H10D30/4755
ELECTRICITY
H10D30/475
ELECTRICITY
International classification
H01L29/20
ELECTRICITY
H01L29/778
ELECTRICITY
Abstract
There are disclosed herein various implementations of a group III-V transistor with a semiconductor field plate. Such a group III-V transistor includes a group III-V heterostructure situated over a substrate and configured to produce a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). In addition, the group III-V transistor includes a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a gate situated over the group heterostructure. The group III-V transistor also includes an insulator layer over the group III-V heterostructure and situated between the gate and the drain electrode, and a semiconductor field plate situated between the gate and the drain electrode, over the insulator layer.
Claims
1. A group III-V transistor comprising: a group III-V heterostructure situated over a substrate and configured to produce a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG); a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a gate situated over said group III-V heterostructure; an insulator layer over said group III-V heterostructure and situated between said gate and said drain electrode, wherein a gate-facing end of said insulator layer is in contact with, and terminates at, a side surface of said gate, wherein a drain electrode-facing end of said insulator layer is in contact with a side surface, and a portion of an upper surface, of said drain electrode; a semiconductor field plate situated between said gate and said drain electrode, over said insulator layer, wherein a gate-facing end of said semiconductor field plate is in contact with said side surface, and a portion of an upper surface, of said gate, wherein a drain electrode-facing end of said semiconductor field plate is in contact with a portion of the upper surface of said drain electrode; wherein said semiconductor field plate adjoins said drain electrode.
2. The group III-V transistor of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor field plate has a sheet resistance in a range from approximately 10.sup.4 ohms/square to approximately 10.sup.7 ohms/square.
3. The group III-V transistor of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor field plate comprises an amorphous semiconductor layer.
4. The group III-V transistor of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor field plate comprises a single crystalline semiconductor layer.
5. The group III-V transistor of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor field plate comprises a polycrystalline semiconductor layer.
6. The group III-V transistor of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor field plate comprises a polycrystalline III-Nitride layer.
7. The group III-V transistor of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor field plate comprises an amorphous III-Nitride layer.
8. A III-Nitride transistor comprising: a gallium nitride (GaN) channel layer situated over a substrate; an aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) barrier layer situated over said GaN channel layer, said AlGaN barrier layer and said GaN channel layer configured to produce a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG); a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a gate situated over said AlGaN barrier layer; an insulator layer over said AlGaN barrier layer and situated between said gate and said drain electrode, wherein a gate-facing end of said insulator layer is in contact with, and terminates at, a side surface of said gate, wherein a drain electrode-facing end of said insulator layer is in contact with a side surface, and a portion of an upper surface, of said drain electrode; a semiconductor field plate situated between said gate and said drain electrode, over said insulator layer, wherein a gate-facing end of said semiconductor field plate is in contact with said side surface, and a portion of an upper surface, of said gate, wherein a drain electrode-facing end of said semiconductor field plate is in contact with a portion of the upper surface of said drain electrode; wherein said semiconductor field plate adjoins said drain electrode.
9. The III-Nitride transistor of claim 8, wherein said semiconductor field plate has a sheet resistance in a range from approximately 10.sup.4 ohms/square to approximately 10.sup.7 ohms/square.
10. The Ill-Nitride transistor of claim 8, wherein said semiconductor field plate comprises an amorphous semiconductor layer.
11. The III-Nitride transistor of claim 8, wherein said semiconductor field plate comprises a single crystalline III-Nitride layer.
12. The III-Nitride transistor of claim 8, wherein said semiconductor field plate comprises a polycrystalline III-Nitride layer.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1)
(2)
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(5) The following description contains specific information pertaining to implementations in the present disclosure. One skilled in the art will recognize that the present disclosure may be implemented in a manner different from that specifically discussed herein. The drawings in the present application and their accompanying detailed description are directed to merely exemplary implementations. Unless noted otherwise, like or corresponding elements among the figures may be indicated by like or corresponding reference numerals. Moreover, the drawings and illustrations in the present application are generally not to scale, and are not intended to correspond to actual relative dimensions.
(6)
(7) As noted above, the voltage requirements for power transistors, such as HEMT 100, continue to increase, requiring strategies for improving their voltage breakdown characteristics. For example, and as shown in
(8) One drawback of conventional field plate techniques utilizing highly conductive, usually metallic, films is that, due to of their high conductivity, such films cannot support a substantial electric field across them. This results in at least two effects which impact the electric fields of the resulting structure. The first is that the potential present at a terminal which is effectively in contact with the field plate, e.g., gate or source electrode, is also present at the end of the field plate, nearest the other device terminal, e.g., drain electrode. This results in a large electric field present between the end of the field plate and, for example, the drain terminal, thereby producing a large field across insulating and semiconducting layers which are present between the two terminals. Secondly, the abrupt geometric termination of the field plate, even at a stepped edge, presents a high discontinuity to the potential across the underlying semiconductive or insulating layers situated between, for example, the gate and drain electrodes. Such discontinuities result in large peak electric fields which may be large enough to degrade the dielectric integrity of those semiconductive or insulating layers, resulting in device leakage currents, device breakdown or long term reliability degradation.
(9) As an alternative field plate design also presently known in the art but not shown in
(10) In certain other known techniques, previously used in, for instance, silicon based devices, also not shown in
(11) Referring to
(12) http://www.powdec.co.jp/news/file/Powdec-20131003e.pdf
(13) and at:
(14) http://www.digitimes.com/supply_chain_window/story.asp?datepublish=2011/03/28&pages=PR&seq=201&query=POWDEC
(15) The use of such semiconductive field plates allows for the control of the field plate resistivity. This in turn allows for the use of a field plate which can support a substantial electric field and, through the use of acceptable leakage currents, effectively provides a uniform electric field across the field plate, between, e.g., the gate and drain electrodes. Adequate leakage current is required to allow for rapid equilibration of the electric fields during transient operation of the device, whereas it is preferable to maintain a leakage current which does not severely degrade the I.sub.ON to I.sub.OFF performance ratio of the device. This then sets an optimal range of leakage current or, more directly, resistivity of the thin film forming the semiconducting field plate.
(16) Although the conventional field plate implementations described above can improve resistance to voltage breakdown in many applications, new solutions providing reduced peak electric fields for improved transistor breakdown capability and robust, long term reliability in higher voltage applications are needed. The present application is directed to group III-V transistors with a semiconductor field plate configured to meet this need. According to various implementations of the present inventive concepts, a thin semiconductor layer forms a distributed resistor which acts to evenly distribute the electric field across the device structure, especially between the gate and the drain electrode. As a result, the semiconductor field plate implementations disclosed herein to advantageously inhibit the formation of electric field peaks which are common in conventional field plate structures and typically occur at the edges or stepped discontinuities of the various conventional field plates.
(17) Referring to
(18) As shown in
(19) It is further noted that although the transistor depicted in
(20) Substrate 312 may be formed of any commonly utilized substrate material. For example, substrate 312 may be formed of sapphire, may be a native group III-V substrate, or may be a group IV substrate as described above in the Definitions section. In implementations in which substrate 312 is a native group III-V substrate, transition layers 314 may be omitted. However, when present, transition layers 314 may include multiple group III-V layers. According to one implementation, transition layers 314 may also include a strain-absorbing layer formed over substrate 312. Such a strain-absorbing layer may be an amorphous strain-absorbing layer, for example, an amorphous silicon nitride layer. It is noted that in implementations in which substrate 312 is a non-native substrate for group III-V channel layer 316 and group III-V barrier layer 318 (i.e., a non group III-V substrate, such as a silicon or other group IV substrate), transition layers 314 are provided to mediate the transition in lattice properties from substrate 312 to group III-V channel layer 316.
(21) In one implementation, transition layers 314 may include a nucleation layer (nucleation layer not shown in
(22) In some implementations, transition layers 314 may include compositionally graded III-Nitride or other group III-V materials. In such implementations, the specific compositions and thicknesses of transition layers 314 may depend on the diameter and thickness of substrate 312, and the desired performance of HEMT 300. For example, the desired breakdown voltage of HEMT 300, as well as the desired bow and warp of the associated epitaxial wafer supporting fabrication of HEMT 300 can influence the compositions and thicknesses of transition layers 314, as known in the art. For instance, when forming a GaN based HEMT, transition layers 314 may include an aluminum nitride (AlN) layer formed on substrate 312, or on a stress reducing layer and/or a nucleation layer formed on substrate 312, and may further include a series of AlGaN layers having a progressively reduced aluminum content relative to their gallium content, until a suitable transition to channel layer 316 is achieved. Moreover, in some implementations, transition layers 314 may take the form of a compositionally graded body having different group III-V alloy compositions at respective top and bottom surfaces.
(23) Examples of using compositionally graded transition layers, as well as use of intermediate layers, stress reducing layers, and various interlayers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,649,287, entitled Gallium Nitride Materials and Methods, filed on Dec. 14, 2000, and issued on Nov. 18, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,617,060, also entitled Gallium Nitride Materials and Methods, filed on Jul. 2, 2002, and issued on Sep. 9, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 7,339,205, entitled Gallium Nitride Materials and Methods Associated with the Same, filed on Jun. 28, 2004, and issued on Mar. 4, 2008; U.S. Pat. No. 8,344,417, entitled Gallium Nitride Semiconductor Structures with Compositionally-Graded Transition Layer, filed on Jan. 27, 2012, and issued on Jan. 1, 2013; U.S. Pat. No. 8,592,862, also entitled Gallium Nitride Semiconductor Structures with Compositionally-Graded Transition Layer, filed on Dec. 27, 2012, and issued on Nov. 26, 2013; U.S. Pat. No. 8,659,030, entitled III-Nitride Heterojunction Devices Having a Multilayer Spacer, filed on Feb. 15, 2012, and issued on Feb. 25, 2014; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/928,946, entitled Stress Modulated Group III-V Semiconductor Device and Related Method, filed on Dec. 21, 2010, and published as U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2012/0153351 on Jun. 21, 2012; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/531,508, entitled Process for Manufacture of Super Lattice Using Alternating High and Low Temperature Layers to Block Parasitic Current Path, filed on Sep. 13, 2006, and published as U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2007/0056506 on Mar. 15, 2007; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/405,180, entitled III-Nitride Semiconductor Structures with Strain Absorbing Interlayer Transition Modules, filed on. Feb. 24, 2012 and published as U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2012/0223365 on Sep. 6, 2012. The above-referenced patents and patent applications are hereby incorporated fully by reference into the present application.
(24) As shown in
(25) It is further noted that in certain applications, it may be desirable to form group III-V barrier layer 318 over a spacer layer (or layers) disposed between group III-V barrier layer 318 and group III-V channel layer 316. Examples of using such spacer layer(s) are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,659,030, entitled III-Nitride Heterojunction Devices Having a Multilayer Spacer, filed on Feb. 15, 2012, and issued on Feb. 25, 2014. This patent is hereby incorporated fully by reference into the present application.
(26) Drain electrode 320 and source electrode 330 are situated over group III-V barrier layer 318 such that they make ohmic contact with 2DEG 317. Gate electrode 342 may be implemented as a conductive polysilicon electrode, or as a metal electrode, for example. Gate dielectric 346 may be formed of any suitable gate dielectric material, such as silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2), aluminum oxide (Al.sub.2O.sub.3) or silicon nitride (Si.sub.3N.sub.4), for example.
(27) Also shown in
(28) Semiconductor field plate 350 may be implemented as a thin semiconductor layer, such as a semiconductor layer having thickness 352 in a range from approximately ten nanometers to approximately one micrometer (approximately 10.0 nm to approximately 1.0 m), such as thickness 352 of approximately 100 nm, for example. Semiconductor field plate 350 may be configured to have a sheet resistance in a range from approximately 10.sup.4 ohms/square to approximately 10.sup.7 ohms/square. In one implementation, semiconductor field plate 350 is formed such that the leakage current expected through HEMT 300 between drain and source without the semiconductor field plate is greater than or approximately equal to the the leakage current through semiconductor field plate 350. As a result, it may be advantageous or desirable to configure semiconductor field plate 350 so as to have a leakage of for example, less than approximately one microampere per millimeter of gate width (1.0 A per mm of gate width) so that it does not add significantly to the total leakage current of HEMT 300.
(29) Semiconductor field plate 350 may be formed as an amorphous semiconductor layer, or as a single crystalline or polycrystalline semiconductor layer. For example, in some implementations, semiconductor field plate 350 may be formed as a single crystalline or polycrystalline or amorphous III-Nitride layer (e.g., GaN, or AlGaN). For instance, in one implementation semiconductor field plate 350 may be formed of AlGaN having an aluminum concentration of from approximately four percent to approximately thirty percent (approximately 4% to approximately 30%). In such an implementation, the AlGaN may be doped with Si or magnesium (Mg), or any commonly utilized III-Nitride dopants, to achieve a desirable sheet resistance of semiconductor field plate 350. However, it is emphasized that the semiconductor material used to form semiconductor field plate 350 need not be single crystalline, and in some implementations, it may be advantageous or desirable for semiconductor field plate 350 to have a polycrystalline or amorphous crystal structure.
(30) Semiconductor field plate 350 functions as a distributed resistor and acts to evenly distribute the electric field between gate 340 and drain electrode 320 of HEMT 300. As a result, semiconductor field plate 350 advantageously inhibits the formation of electric field peaks, which are common in conventional field plate implementations. It is noted that in some implementations, in addition to semiconductor field plate 350, HEMT 300 may also include a conductive field plate (conductive field plate not shown in
(31) As further shown in
(32) Moving to
(33) HEMT 400 further includes group III-V channel layer 416 and group III-V barrier layer 418 of group III-V heterostructure 410, transition layers 414, and substrate 412. Also shown in
(34) HEMT 400 including group III-V heterostructure 410, drain electrode 420, source electrode 430, gate 440, and semiconductor field plate 450 having thickness 452 corresponds in general to HEMT 300 including group III-V heterostructure 310, drain electrode 320, source electrode 330, gate 340, and semiconductor field plate 350 having thickness 342, in
(35) As further shown in
(36) Thus, the present application discloses a group III-V transistor with semiconductor field plate. According to various implementations of the present inventive concepts, a semiconductor field plate can be used to form a distributed resistor which acts to evenly distribute the electric field across the transistor structure, between the gate and the drain electrode. As a result, the semiconductor field plate disclosed herein advantageously inhibits the formation of electric field peaks which are common in conventional field plate structures.
(37) From the above description it is manifest that various techniques can be used for implementing the concepts described in the present application without departing from the scope of those concepts. Moreover, while the concepts have been described with specific reference to certain implementations, a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the scope of those concepts. As such, the described implementations are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. It should also be understood that the present application is not limited to the particular implementations described herein, but many rearrangements, modifications, and substitutions are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.