Physical Mechanism of the β‐Ga2O3 PN Tunneling Diode with a Low Specific On‐Resistance

This study proposes a β ‐Ga 2 O 3 pn tunneling diode (PNT‐diode) in which the p‐type region is obtained by sputtering a thin NiO x layer in the pure argon atmosphere. The diode exhibits good characteristics: a high current density of 1530 A cm −2 at 10 V and a low specific on‐resistance of 0.56 mΩ cm 2 . Moreover, its breakdown voltage of is about four times compared to a conventional diode, and its Baliga's figure of merit (BFOM) is as high as 3.25 GW cm −2 . Ni/NiO x diodes are simulated by Silvaco simulation software to investigate the physical mechanism of the low specific on‐resistance of the PNT‐diode, and the results demonstrate that Ni and NiO x can form a reverse diode, and that PNT‐diode is equivalent to the Ni/NiO x reverse diode and the NiO x / β ‐Ga 2 O 3 forward diode connected in series. Finally, the electric field distribution of the PNT‐diode is simulated, and it is found that p‐type NiO x can significantly reduce the peak electric field at the anode edge.