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In Situ Raman Analysis of a Bulk GaN-Based Schottky Rectifier Under Operation

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We have fabricated vertical Schottky rectifiers based on a free-standing GaN substrate and have measured the temperature of the device under operation in situ using micro-Raman spectroscopy. The n-type bulk GaN wafer with 500 μm thickness was prepared using hydride vapor-phase epitaxy. The carrier concentration of the wafer was ~2.4 × 1016 cm−3. Semitransparent Ni and multilayered Ti/Al/Pt/Au were used to make a Schottky and a full backside ohmic contact, respectively. In this investigation, Raman spectra were collected as a function of the forward power applied to the Schottky diode. A systematic shift and broadening of the Raman E 2 peak were observed as a function of increasing bias. This was caused by device heating due to the increase in current as the forward bias was increased. It was demonstrated that micro-Raman spectroscopy can serve as an excellent in situ diagnostic tool for analyzing thermal characteristics of the GaN Schottky diode. Moreover, the strain caused by the piezoelectric effect was calculated to lead to a shift of the Raman peak at the level of 0.001 cm−1. This confirmed that the observed Raman peak shift was predominantly produced by a thermal not piezoelectric effect.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Mr. Fillmer for financial support from Auburn University’s Natural Resources Management and Development Institute (NRMDI). The work was also partially funded by National Science Foundation through NCSU’s FREEDM Systems Center. A partial support from USDA through AUDFS is also greatly acknowledged. We also want to thank Mrs. Tamara Isaacs-Smith for her technical assistance and manuscript editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Hui Xu, Siddharth Alur, Yaqi Wang, An-Jen Cheng, Kilho Kang, Yogeshkumar Sharma, Minseo Park, Claude Ahyi & John Williams

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Chaokang Gu

  3. Kyma Technologies, Inc., 8829 Midway West Road, Raleigh, NC, 27617, USA

    Andrew Hanser, Tanya Paskova, Edward A. Preble & Keith R. Evans

  4. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Yi Zhou

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  1. Hui Xu
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Correspondence to Minseo Park.

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Xu, H., Alur, S., Wang, Y. et al. In Situ Raman Analysis of a Bulk GaN-Based Schottky Rectifier Under Operation. J. Electron. Mater. 39, 2237–2242 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-010-1304-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-010-1304-3

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