Epitaxial Growth of High-κ Dielectrics for GaN MOSFETs

High-dielectric constant (high-kappa) oxide growth on hexagonal-GaN (on sapphire) is examined for potential use in enhancement-mode metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). Enhancement-mode MOSFET devices (n(s) > 4 x 10(13) cm(-2)) offer significant performance advantages, such as greater efficiency and scalability, as compared to heterojunction field effect transistor (HFET) devices for use in high power and high frequency GaN-based devices. High leakage current and current collapse at high drive conditions suggests that the use of a high-kappa insulating layer is principle for enhancement-mode MOSFET development. In this work, rare earth oxides (Sc, La, etc.) are explored due to their ideal combination of permittivity and high band gap energy. However, a substantial lattice mismatch (9-21%) between the rare earth oxides and the GaN substrate results in mid-gap defect state densities and growth dislocations. The epitaxial growth of the rare earth oxides by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on native oxide passivated-GaN is examined in an effort to minimize these growth related defects and other growth-related limitations. Growth of the oxide on GaN is characterized analytically by RHEED, XRD, and XPS. Preliminary MOS electrical analysis of a 50 angstrom La2O3 on GaN shows superior leakage performance as compared to significantly thicker Si3N4 dielectric.