Ti/Al Based Ohmic Contact to As-Grown N-Polar GaN*

Ti/Al based Ohmic contacts to as-grown N-polar GaN are investigated by cross-section transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Due to the higher oxygen background doping in the N-polar GaN, the Al metal in Ohmic stacks is found to react with background oxygen more easily, resulting in more AlOx. In addition, the formation of AlOx is affected by the Al layer thickness greatly. The AlOx combined with the presence of AlN is detrimental to the Ohmic contacts for N-polar GaN compared with Ga-polar GaN. With the reduction of the Al layer thickness to some extent, less AlOx and AlN are formed, and lower Ohmic contact resistance is obtained. The lowest contact resistivity ρ of 1.97 × 10−6 Ωcm2 is achieved with the Al layer thickness of 80 nm.