Removal of GaN film over AlGaN with inductively coupled BCl3/Ar atomic layer etch

doi:10.1088/1674-1056/ac032d

Abstract Atomic layer etching (ALE) of thin film GaN (0001) is reported in detail using sequential surface modification by BCl₃ adsorption and removal of the modified surface layer by low energy Ar plasma exposure in a reactive ion etching system. The estimated etching rate of GaN is ～ 0.74 nm/cycle. The GaN is removed from the surface of AlGaN after 135 cycles. To study the mechanism of the etching, the detailed characterization and analyses are carried out, including scanning electron microscope (SEM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscope (AFM). It is found that in the presence of GaCl_x after surface modification by BCl₃, the GaCl_x disappears after having exposed to low energy Ar plasma, which effectively exhibits the mechanism of atomic layer etch. This technique enables a uniform and reproducible fabrication process for enhancement-mode high electron mobility transistors with a p-GaN gate.

Keywords: atomic layer etch GaN high electron mobility transistor

Received: 16 March 2021
Revised: 13 May 2021
Accepted manuscript online: 20 May 2021

PACS:	52.77.Bn	(Etching and cleaning)
	61.72.uj	(III-V and II-VI semiconductors)
	85.30.De	(Semiconductor-device characterization, design, and modeling)

Fund: Project supported by the National Foreign Experts Bureau High-end Foreign Experts Project, China (Grant No. G20190114003), the Key Research and Development Program of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. BE2018063), the Natural Science Research Projects of Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. 19KJD140002), and the Scientific Research Program for Doctoral Teachers of JSNU, China (Grant No. 9212218113).

Corresponding Authors: Jia-Le Tang
E-mail: 1784704746@qq.com

Cite this article:

Jia-Le Tang(唐家乐) and Chao Liu(刘超) Removal of GaN film over AlGaN with inductively coupled BCl₃/Ar atomic layer etch 2022 Chin. Phys. B 31 018101

[1] Khan M A, Chen Q, Sun C J, Shur M and Gelmont B 1995 Appl. Phys. Lett. 67 1429
[2] Li L K, Turk B, Wang W I, Syed S, Simonian D and Stormer H L 2000 Appl. Phys. Lett. 76 742
[3] Manfra M J, Pfeiffer L N, West K W, Stormer H L, Baldwin K W, Hsu J, Lang D V and Molnar R J 2000 Appl. Phys. Lett. 77 2888
[4] Guo H Y, Lv Y J, Gu G D, Dun S B, Fang Y L, Zhang Z R, Tan X, Song X B, Zhou X Y and Feng Z H 2015 Chin. Phys. Lett. 32 118501
[5] Gao H, Yan F, Fan Z, Li J, Zeng Y and Wang G 2008 Chin. Phys. Lett. 25 3448
[6] Liu Y, Yu Q and Du J F 2020 Chin. Phys. B 29 127701
[7] He T L, Wei H Y, Li C M, Li G W and Science S O 2019 Acta Phys. Sin. 68 206101 (in Chinese)
[8] Sun Q, Yan W, Feng M, Li Z, Bo F, Zhao H and Hui Y 2016 J. Semicond. 37 044006
[9] Sang F, Wang M, Tao M, Liu S, Yu M, Xie B, Wen C P, Wang J, Wu W and Hao Y 2016 Appl. Phys. Express 9 091001
[10] Li Z, Waldron J, Detchprohm T, Wetzel C, Karlicek Jr R F and Chow T P 2013 Appl. Phys. Lett. 102 735
[11] Su L Y, Lee F and Huang J J 2014 IEEE Trans. Electron Dev. 61 460
[12] Hwang I, Kim J, Soon H, Choi H, Lee J, Kim K Y, Park J B, Lee J C, Ha J B, Oh J, Shin J and Chung U 2013 IEEE Electron Dev. Lett. 34 202
[13] apajna M, Hilt O, Bahat-Treidel E, Würfl J and Kuzmík J 2016 IEEE Electron Dev. Lett. 37 385
[14] Kim K W, Jung S D, Kim D S, Im K S, Kang H S, Lee J H, Bae Y, Kwon D H and Cristoloveanu S 2011 Microelectronic Engineering 88 1225
[15] Buttari D, Chini A, Palacios T, Coffie R, Shen L, Xing H, Heikman S, Mccarthy L, Chakraborty A and Keller S 2003 Appl. Phys. Lett. 83 4779
[16] Smith S A, Lampert W V, Rajagopal P, Banks A D, Thomson D and Davis R F 2000 Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum Surfaces and Films 18 879
[17] Han Y, Song X, Guo W, Yi L and Sun C 2003 Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 42 L1139
[18] Zhong Y, Yu Z, Gao H, Dai S, He J, Feng M, Qian S, Zhang J, Zhao Y and An D S 2017 Appl. Surf. Sci. 420 817
[19] Metzler D, Bruce R L, Engelmann S, Joseph E A and Oehrlein G S 2014 Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A Vacuum Surfaces & Films 32 020603
[20] Wang S, Zhang X, Yang H and Cui Y 2015 Electron. Mater. Lett. 11 675
[21] Hsu H C, Su Y K, Cheng S H, Huang S J, Cao J M and Chen K C 2010 Appl. Surf. Sci. 257 1080
[22] Burnham S D, Boutros K, Hashimoto P, Butler C, Wong D W, Hu M and Micovic M 2010 Physica Status Solidi C 7 2010

[1]	Low-resistance ohmic contacts on InAlN/GaN heterostructures with MOCVD-regrown n⁺-InGaN and mask-free regrowth process Jingshu Guo(郭静姝), Jiejie Zhu(祝杰杰), Siyu Liu(刘思雨), Jielong Liu(刘捷龙), Jiahao Xu(徐佳豪), Weiwei Chen(陈伟伟), Yuwei Zhou(周雨威), Xu Zhao(赵旭), Minhan Mi(宓珉瀚), Mei Yang(杨眉), Xiaohua Ma(马晓华), and Yue Hao(郝跃). Chin. Phys. B, 2023, 32(3): 037303.
[2]	Reverse gate leakage mechanism of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with Au-free gate Xin Jiang(蒋鑫), Chen-Hao Li(李晨浩), Shuo-Xiong Yang(羊硕雄), Jia-Hao Liang(梁家豪), Long-Kun Lai(来龙坤), Qing-Yang Dong(董青杨), Wei Huang(黄威),Xin-Yu Liu(刘新宇), and Wei-Jun Luo(罗卫军). Chin. Phys. B, 2023, 32(3): 037201.
[3]	Achieving highly-efficient H₂S gas sensor by flower-like SnO₂-SnO/porous GaN heterojunction Zeng Liu(刘增), Ling Du(都灵), Shao-Hui Zhang(张少辉), Ang Bian(边昂), Jun-Peng Fang(方君鹏), Chen-Yang Xing(邢晨阳), Shan Li(李山), Jin-Cheng Tang(汤谨诚), Yu-Feng Guo(郭宇锋), and Wei-Hua Tang(唐为华). Chin. Phys. B, 2023, 32(2): 020701.
[4]	Demonstration and modeling of unipolar-carrier-conduction GaN Schottky-pn junction diode with low turn-on voltage Lijian Guo(郭力健), Weizong Xu(徐尉宗), Qi Wei(位祺), Xinghua Liu(刘兴华), Tianyi Li(李天义), Dong Zhou(周东), Fangfang Ren(任芳芳), Dunjun Chen(陈敦军), Rong Zhang(张荣), Youdou Zheng(郑有炓), and Hai Lu(陆海). Chin. Phys. B, 2023, 32(2): 027302.
[5]	Influence of the lattice parameter of the AlN buffer layer on the stress state of GaN film grown on (111) Si Zhen-Zhuo Zhang(张臻琢), Jing Yang(杨静), De-Gang Zhao(赵德刚), Feng Liang(梁锋), Ping Chen(陈平), and Zong-Shun Liu(刘宗顺). Chin. Phys. B, 2023, 32(2): 028101.
[6]	Design optimization of high breakdown voltage vertical GaN junction barrier Schottky diode with high-K/low-K compound dielectric structure Kuiyuan Tian(田魁元), Yong Liu(刘勇), Jiangfeng Du(杜江锋), and Qi Yu(于奇). Chin. Phys. B, 2023, 32(1): 017306.
[7]	Bottom-up approaches to microLEDs emitting red, green and blue light based on GaN nanowires and relaxed InGaN platelets Zhaoxia Bi(毕朝霞), Anders Gustafsson, and Lars Samuelson. Chin. Phys. B, 2023, 32(1): 018103.
[8]	Physical analysis of normally-off ALD Al₂O₃/GaN MOSFET with different substrates using self-terminating thermal oxidation-assisted wet etching technique Cheng-Yu Huang(黄成玉), Jin-Yan Wang(王金延), Bin Zhang(张斌), Zhen Fu(付振), Fang Liu(刘芳), Mao-Jun Wang(王茂俊), Meng-Jun Li(李梦军), Xin Wang(王鑫), Chen Wang(汪晨), Jia-Yin He(何佳音), and Yan-Dong He(何燕冬). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(9): 097401.
[9]	Liquid-phase synthesis of Li₂S and Li₃PS₄ with lithium-based organic solutions Jieru Xu(许洁茹), Qiuchen Wang(王秋辰), Wenlin Yan(闫汶琳), Liquan Chen(陈立泉), Hong Li(李泓), and Fan Wu(吴凡). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(9): 098203.
[10]	Mottness, phase string, and high-T_c superconductivity Jing-Yu Zhao(赵靖宇) and Zheng-Yu Weng(翁征宇). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(8): 087104.
[11]	Inertial focusing and rotating characteristics of elliptical and rectangular particle pairs in channel flow Pei-Feng Lin(林培锋), Xiao Hu(胡箫), and Jian-Zhong Lin(林建忠). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(8): 080501.
[12]	Effect of surface plasmon coupling with radiating dipole on the polarization characteristics of AlGaN-based light-emitting diodes Yi Li(李毅), Mei Ge(葛梅), Meiyu Wang(王美玉), Youhua Zhu(朱友华), and Xinglong Guo(郭兴龙). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(7): 077801.
[13]	Enhancing performance of GaN-based LDs by using GaN/InGaN asymmetric lower waveguide layers Wen-Jie Wang(王文杰), Ming-Le Liao(廖明乐), Jun Yuan(袁浚), Si-Yuan Luo(罗思源), and Feng Huang(黄锋). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(7): 074206.
[14]	Effects of electrical stress on the characteristics and defect behaviors in GaN-based near-ultraviolet light emitting diodes Ying-Zhe Wang(王颖哲), Mao-Sen Wang(王茂森), Ning Hua(化宁), Kai Chen(陈凯), Zhi-Min He(何志敏), Xue-Feng Zheng(郑雪峰), Pei-Xian Li(李培咸), Xiao-Hua Ma(马晓华), Li-Xin Guo(郭立新), and Yue Hao(郝跃). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(6): 068101.
[15]	Simulation design of normally-off AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors with p-GaN Schottky hybrid gate Yun-Long He(何云龙), Fang Zhang(张方), Kai Liu(刘凯), Yue-Hua Hong(洪悦华), Xue-Feng Zheng(郑雪峰),Chong Wang(王冲), Xiao-Hua Ma(马晓华), and Yue Hao(郝跃). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(6): 068501.

No Suggested Reading articles found!

Viewed

Full text

Abstract

Cited

Metrics
Related Articles

Removal of GaN film over AlGaN with inductively coupled BCl3/Ar atomic layer etch

Cite this article:

Online attention

Removal of GaN film over AlGaN with inductively coupled BCl₃/Ar atomic layer etch