Impact of thick N-polar AlN growth on crystalline quality and electrical properties of N-polar GaN/AlGaN/AlN FET

Abstract

In this study, we attempted to fabricate N-polar GaN/AlGaN/AlN heterostructure FET by changing the thickness of the AlN layer. An Al-polar tiny-pit AlN layer and a polarity inversion method were used to grow N-polar AlN on vicinal sapphire via the metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. The samples with an AlN thickness of up to 3.4 μm exhibited a crack-free surface. Additionally, the twist component of the crystal quality improved with an increasing AlN thickness. Consequently, the mobility, sheet conductivity, and surface flatness improved. The FET fabricated from the sample with a thicker AlN layer achieved a higher drain current of 279 mA mm−1 at a gate bias of VG = 3 V.