# US 8,541,816 B2 · III nitride electronic device and III nitride semiconductor epitaxial substrate

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- Number: US 8,541,816 B2
- Document ID: US8541816B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 12/740,770
- Filed: 2008-10-28
- Published: 2010-09-16
- Granted: 2013-09-24
- Earliest claimed: 2007-11-02
- Assignees: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
- Applicants: Shin Hashimoto; Tatsuya Tanabe
- Inventors: Shin Hashimoto; Tatsuya Tanabe
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8541816B2

## CPC

- H10D 62/824: comprising only Group III-V materials heterojunctions, e.g. GaN/AlGaN heterojunctions
- H10D 8/60: Schottky-barrier diodes
- H10D 30/4755: {having wide bandgap charge-carrier supplying layers, e.g. modulation doped HEMTs such as n-AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs}
- H10D 62/8503: {Nitride Group III-V materials, e.g. AlN or GaN}
- H10D 62/854: further characterised by the dopants
- H10P 14/24: using chemical vapour deposition [CVD]
- H10P 14/2904: {Silicon carbide}
- H10P 14/2908: {Nitrides}
- H10P 14/2921: {being crystalline insulating materials}
- H10P 14/3216: {Nitrides}
- H10P 14/3416: {Nitrides}
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

In a group III nitride hetero junction transistor 11a, a second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer 15 forms a hetero junction 21 with a first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer 13a. A first electrode 17 forms a Schottky junction with the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer 13a. The first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer 13a and the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer 15 are provided over a substrate 23. The electrodes 17a, 18a, and 19a include a source electrode, a gate electrode, and a drain electrode, respectively. The carbon concentration NC13 in the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer 13a is less than 1×1017 cm−3. The dislocation density D in the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer 15 is 1×108 cm−2. The hetero junction 21 generates a two-dimensional electron gas layer 25. These provide a low-loss gallium nitride based electronic device.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A group III nitride electronic device, comprising:
a first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N (0<X1<1, 0≦X2<1, 0<X1+X2<1) layer;
a second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N (0≦Y1<1, 0≦Y2<1, 0≦Y1+Y2<1) layer forming a hetero-junction with the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer;
a first electrode provided on the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer; and
a second electrode provided on the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer,
the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer being provided on the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer,
a band gap of the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer being greater than that of the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer,
a carbon concentration in the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer being in a range of 3×1016 cm−3 or higher and less than 1×1017 cm−3,
a dislocation density of the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer being less than 1×108 cm−2, and
the first electrode forming a Schottky junction with the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The group III nitride electronic device according to claim 1, wherein
the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer includes an AlGaN barrier layer;
the group III nitride electronic device includes a hetero junction transistor;
the first electrode includes a gate electrode of the hetero junction transistor;
the second electrode includes a drain electrode of the transistor; and
the group III nitride electronic device further comprises a source electrode provided on the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The group III nitride electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer comprises GaN.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The group III nitride electronic device according to claim 1, wherein
the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer includes an AlGaN layer;
the group III nitride electronic device includes a Schottky barrier diode;
the first electrode includes an anode for the Schottky barrier diode; and
the second electrode includes a cathode for the Schottky barrier diode.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The group III nitride electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising a GaN substrate, the GaN substrate having a dislocation density of 1×108 cm−2 or less; and the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer being provided on the GaN substrate.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The group III nitride electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the GaN substrate is semi-insulating.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The group III nitride electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising a GaN template, the GaN template having a dislocation density of 1×108 cm−2 or less, and the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer being provided over the GaN template.

### Claim 8

A group III nitride semiconductor epitaxial substrate for a group III nitride electronic device having a Schottky electrode, the group III nitride semiconductor epitaxial substrate comprising:
a substrate;
a first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N (0<X1<1, 0≦X2<1, 0<X1+X2<1) layer provided on the substrate; and
a second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N (0≦Y1<1, 0≦Y2<1, 0≦Y1+Y2<1) layer provided on the substrate, the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer forming a hetero junction with the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer,
the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer being provided between the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer and the substrate,
a band gap of the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer being greater than that of the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer,
a carbon concentration in the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer being in a range of 3×1016 cm−3 or higher and less than 1×1017 cm−3, and
a dislocation density of the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer being less than 1×108 cm−2.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The group III nitride semiconductor epitaxial substrate according to claim 8, wherein
the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer includes a AlGaN barrier layer, and
the group III nitride electronic device includes a hetero junction transistor and the Schottky electrode includes a gate electrode in the hetero junction transistor.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The group III nitride semiconductor epitaxial substrate according to claim 8, wherein
the first AlX1InX2Ga1-X1-X2N layer includes an AlGaN layer, and
the group III nitride electronic device includes a lateral Schottky barrier diode and the Schottky electrode includes an anode in the lateral Schottky barrier diode.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The group III nitride semiconductor epitaxial substrate according to claim 9, wherein the second AlY1InY2Ga1-Y1-Y2N layer comprises GaN.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The group III nitride semiconductor epitaxial substrate according to claim 8, wherein the substrate comprises a GaN substrate having a dislocation density of 1×108 cm−2 or less.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The group III nitride semiconductor epitaxial substrate according to claim 12, wherein the GaN substrate is made of semi-insulating GaN.

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The group III nitride semiconductor epitaxial substrate according to claim 8, wherein the substrate comprises a GaN template having a dislocation density of 1×108 cm−2 or less.