Mechanism of Ti/Al/Ni/Au ohmic contacts to AlGaN/GaN heterostructures via laser annealing

The physical mechanisms of Ti/Al/Ni/Au ohmic contacts to AlGaN/GaN heterostructures by laser annealing and rapid thermal annealing are systematically investigated. The microstructures indicate that a better surface morphology and an intact contact interface are formed after laser annealing. None of the TiN alloy spikes are formed at the interface of the laser annealing sample. The experimental results show that the current transport mechanism through the ohmic contact after laser annealing is different from the conventional spike mechanism, and it is dominated by thermionic field emission.