Metal Insulator Semiconductor Structures on Gallium Arsenide.
Abstract
Available from UMI in association with The British Library. The compound semiconductor gallium arsenide and its associated aluminium alloys have been the subject of intensive research in recent years. These materials offer the advantage of high electron mobilities coupled with the ability to be 'barrier engineered' leading to high injection efficiencies in bipolar devices. From a technological viewpoint however these materials are difficult to work with and device realisation is a major problem. Both thermal and anodic oxidation of these materials fail to produce a dielectric of sufficient quality for device applications and as a result devices tend to be complex non planar, mesa structures. A technique is proposed whereby the electrical interface is separated from the dielectric by means of a thin layer of AlGaAs, carrier confinement in the active GaAs region being maintained by the potential barriers to holes and electrons formed by the GaAs-AlGaAs junction. The integrity of these barriers is maintained by the provision of a suitable 'capping' dielectric. The electrical characteristics of various dielectric systems on GaAs have been investigated by means of current -voltage, capacitance-voltage and electronic breakdown measurements. Transport mechanisms for leakage current through these systems are identified and the interface properties (viz Fermi level pinning etc.) assessed by means of a direct comparison between experimental capacitance-voltage curves and theoretical data obtained from classical theory. As a technique for producing a convenient, in house 'capping' dielectric with good electrical and mechanical properties, the plasma anodisation of deposited aluminium films has been investigated. The anodisation parameters have been optimised for oxidation of these films in a microwave sustained oxygen plasma to give alumina films of around 500 A. A qualitative model for the anodisation process, involving linear and parabolic growth kinetics is proposed and experimental data is produced to support the theory. A completely general numerical model to generate theoretical band structures and capacitance-voltage responses of dielectric-semiconductor-semiconductor systems is presented. This computer model has been used to asses the final dielectric system. That system being an alumina 'capping' dielectric on an AlGaAs buffer layer, interfacing with an active GaAs substrate.
- Publication:
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Ph.D. Thesis
- Pub Date:
- 1989
- Bibcode:
- 1989PhDT.......248C
- Keywords:
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- Physics: Condensed Matter