Single-Event Burnout in Vertical <i>β</i>-Ga₂O₃ Diodes With Pt/PtO<i>ₓ</i> Schottky Contacts and High-<i>k</i> Field-Plate Dielectrics

Abstract

Single-event burnout (SEB) is experimentally observed in structurally improved vertical Beta-gallium oxide ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\beta $ </tex-math></inline-formula> -Ga2O3) Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with Pt/PtOx Schottky contacts and high-k field-plate (FP) dielectrics. These SBDs are resistant to alpha particle strikes up to the in-air reverse bias voltage of 475 V, but SEB-induced catastrophic failure is observed during Californium-252 (Cf-252) fission fragment exposure at 400 ± 20 V reverse bias. The SEB threshold in Cf-252 testing is improved in PtOx-contact SBDs with 4- <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> epitaxial layers and high-k FP dielectrics by ~30%, compared to previously reported results for Pt-contact SBDs with 10- <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> epitaxial layers. TCAD simulations show that ion-induced electric fields increase less in devices with FPs than in those without FPs.