# US 12,224,322 B2 · Epitaxial structure having diffusion barrier layer

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- Number: US 12,224,322 B2
- Document ID: US12224322B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/238,311
- Filed: 2021-04-23
- Published: 2021-10-28
- Granted: 2025-02-11
- Earliest claimed: 2020-04-24
- Assignees: GlobalWafers Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: GlobalWafers Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Tzu-Yao Lin; Jia-Zhe Liu; Ying-Ru Shih
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12224322B2

## CPC

- H10D 62/824: comprising only Group III-V materials heterojunctions, e.g. GaN/AlGaN heterojunctions
- H10D 30/475: {having wider bandgap layer formed on top of lower bandgap active layer, e.g. undoped barrier HEMTs such as i-AlGaN/GaN HEMTs}
- H10D 62/8503: {Nitride Group III-V materials, e.g. AlN or GaN}
- H10D 62/852: being Group III-V materials comprising three or more elements, e.g. AlGaN or InAsSbP
- H10D 62/343: {Gate regions of field-effect devices having PN junction gates}
- H10P 14/3216: {Nitrides}
- H10P 14/3251: {consisting of three or more layers}
- H10P 14/3254: {Graded layers}
- H10P 14/3416: {Nitrides}
- H10P 14/3444: {P-type}
- H10P 14/3446: {Transition metal elements; Rare earth elements}
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

An epitaxial structure includes a substrate, a buffer layer, a channel layer, a barrier layer, a diffusion barrier layer, and a P-type gallium nitride layer sequentially stacked from bottom to top. The P-type gallium nitride layer has a first lattice constant. The diffusion barrier layer includes a chemical composition of Inx1Aly1Gaz1N, where x1+y1+z1=1, 0≤x1≤0.3, 0≤y1≤1.0, and 0≤z1≤1.0. The chemical composition of the diffusion barrier layer has a proportional relationship so that the diffusion barrier layer has a second lattice constant that matches the first lattice constant, and the second lattice constant is between 80% and 120% of the first lattice constant.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An epitaxial structure, comprising:
a substrate;
a buffer layer disposed on the substrate;
a channel layer disposed on the buffer layer;
a barrier layer disposed on the channel layer; and
a P-type gallium nitride layer disposed on the barrier layer, and the P-type gallium nitride layer having a first lattice constant;
wherein the epitaxial structure further comprises a diffusion barrier layer disposed between the barrier layer and the P-type gallium nitride layer, the diffusion barrier layer includes a chemical composition of Inx1Aly1Gaz1N, where x1+y1+z1=1, 0≤x1≤0.3, 0≤y1≤1.0, and 0≤z1≤1.0; wherein the chemical composition of the diffusion barrier layer has a proportional relationship, so that the diffusion barrier layer has a second lattice constant that matches the first lattice constant, and the second lattice constant is between 80% and 120% of the first lattice constant;
wherein the barrier layer includes a chemical composition of Aly2Gaz2N, where y2+z2=1, 0.1≤y2≤0.3, and 0<z2<1;
wherein the diffusion barrier layer including the chemical composition of Inx1Aly1Gaz1N is directly disposed on and connected to the barrier layer including the chemical composition of Aly2Gaz2N;
wherein at least a part of the aluminum (Al) content of the diffusion barrier layer is not less than 0.4 and is greater than the aluminum (Al) content of the barrier layer;
wherein the diffusion barrier layer is a multi-layer structure that has four layers to ten layers, and the aluminum (Al) content of the diffusion barrier layer is decreased along a thickness growth direction of the diffusion barrier layer; wherein an initial content of the aluminum (Al) content along the thickness growth direction is between 60% and 80%, a final content of the aluminum (Al) content along the thickness growth direction is between 0% and 20%, and a step change rate of the aluminum (Al) content in the multi-layer structure is reduced by 5% to 25% per step.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The epitaxial structure according to claim 1, wherein the first lattice constant of the P-type gallium nitride layer is 3.2±0.3 Å, and the second lattice constant of the diffusion barrier layer is 3.2±0.3 Å.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The epitaxial structure according to claim 1, wherein, in the diffusion barrier layer, the proportional relationship of the chemical composition is:
y1 and x1 satisfy the following relationship: y1=k1*x1, where 2≤k1≤8; and y1 and z1 satisfy the following relationship: y1*z1=k2, where 0.05≤k2≤0.3.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The epitaxial structure according to claim 1, wherein, in the diffusion barrier layer, at least the part of the aluminum (Al) content enables a maximum energy gap of the diffusion barrier layer to be not less than 4.6 eV.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The epitaxial structure according to claim 1, wherein, in the diffusion barrier layer, an initial content of the indium (In) content along the thickness growth direction is between 10% and 25%, and a final content of the indium (In) content along the thickness growth direction is between 0% and 10%; wherein an initial content of the gallium (Ga) content along the thickness growth direction is between 10% and 30%, and a final content of the gallium (Ga) content along the thickness growth direction is between 80% and 100%.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The epitaxial structure according to claim 5, wherein an energy gap of the diffusion barrier layer is decreased in a stepwise manner the second lattice constant of the diffusion barrier layer is 3.2±0.3 Å, an initial energy gap of the diffusion barrier layer along the thickness growth direction is 5.0±0.2 eV, and an final energy gap of the diffusion barrier layer along the thickness growth direction is 3.5±0.2 eV.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The epitaxial structure according to claim 1, wherein the P-type gallium nitride layer includes an acceptor doping element with a doping concentration greater than 1×1018 atoms per cubic centimeter; wherein the acceptor doping element is at least one material selected from a group consisting of magnesium (Mg), carbon (C), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), vanadium (V), manganese (Mn), and beryllium (Be).