Effects of vacuum annealing on electrical properties of GaN contacts

Abstract: To understand formation and deterioration mechanisms of Ta/Ti ohmic contacts that were previously developed for p-GaN, the electrical properties of the Ta/Ti contacts, which were deposited on undoped GaN substrates and subsequently annealed in vacuum (where a slash (/) sign indicates the deposition sequence), were studied. The Ta/Ti contacts displayed good ohmic behavior after annealing at a temperature of 800C for 10 min in vacuum, although the undoped GaN substrates were used. However, deterioration of the present ohmic contacts was observed during room-temperature storage. These contact properties were similar to those observed in the Ta/Ti contacts prepared on p-GaN. Hall-effect measurements revealed that thin n-type conductive layers were found to form on surfaces of both the undoped GaN and p-GaN substrates after annealing at 800C in vacuum.