Effects of ammonia and oxygen plasma treatment on interface traps in AlGaN/GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors

A HfO2/Al2O3/AlN stack deposited in a plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition system is used as the gate dielectric for GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor structures. Prior to the deposition, in situ remote plasma pretreatments (RPPs) with O2, NH3, and NH3–O2 (in sequence) were carried out. Frequency-dependent capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements reveal that for all the RPP-treated samples, the interface trap density Dit was significantly reduced compared to the sample without RPP. In particular, the NH3-treated sample exhibits an extremely low Dit of ∼1011 cm−2·eV−1 from EC − 0.31 eV to EC − 0.46 eV. To characterize the interface traps at deeper levels, the transfer pulsed I–V measurement was employed further. In the energy range of EC − ET > 0.54 eV, the interface trap charge density Qit of various samples demonstrates the following order: NH3 RPP < NH3–O2 RPP < O2 RPP < without RPP. By adjusting multiple pulse widths, the Dit derived from the Qit result matches the C–V measurement precisely. Moreover, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the Ga 3d core-level indicates that NH3 RPP facilitates the conversion of Ga2O into GaN at high RF power of 2500 W, whereas O2 RPP mainly oxidizes GaN to relatively stable Ga2O3. Combined with the C–V and pulsed I–V measurements, it is confirmed that a strong positive correlation exists between Ga2O and the interface traps, rather than Ga2O3.