Reduction in Buffer Leakage Current with Mn-Doped GaN Buffer Layer Grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

The effect of Mn-doping into a GaN buffer layer grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on the reduction in the leakage current of high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) was investigated. Both the surface morphology and crystallinity maintained their quality even after heavy Mn-doping. The sheet resistance of GaN films increased with increasing amount of Mn-doping. The origin of semi-insulating GaN layer is considered to be electron scattering and the carrier compensation mechanism involving deep levels generated by the Mn impurity. When using the Mn-doped GaN buffer layer for the HEMT structure, the leakage current was reduced to five orders of magnitude lower than that without Mn-doping. Although Mn-doping is an effective technique for reducing the buffer leakage current, it is found that current collapse is emphasized when using the Mn-doped GaN buffer layer. We suggest that Mn atoms, which diffused to the GaN channel layer, induce the current collapse.