Title :
Influence of reactive ion etching on the microwave trap noise generated in Pt/n-GaAs Schottky diode interfaces
Author :
Miranda, J.M. ; Lin, C.-I. ; Brandt, M. ; Rodríguez-Gironés, M. ; Hartnagel, H.L. ; Sebastián, J.L.
Author_Institution :
Dept. de Fisica Aplicada III, Univ. Complutense de Madrid, Spain
Abstract :
This work presents a systematic investigation of the influence of reactive ion etching (RIE) on the microwave noise performance of GaAs Schottky diodes. A number of devices has been fabricated by making use of RIE techniques in the anode window definition. The noise temperature measurements have revealed a strong degradation of the noise performance with RIE time, but no significant changes have been observed on the barrier height. Different refinements to the fabrication process that are typically utilized to reduce the effects of RIE damage were tested. The use of thermal treatment at 400/spl deg/C after the RIE process was found to be the most effective procedure to remove the sources of the measured excess noise, which are attributed to anomalies in the Ga coverage at the metal-semiconductor interface.
Keywords :
Schottky diodes; electric noise measurement; gallium arsenide; microwave diodes; platinum; semiconductor device noise; shot noise; sputter etching; thermal noise; 400 C; Ga coverage anomalies; Pt-GaAs; Pt/n-GaAs Schottky diode interfaces; RIE damage; RIE time; anode window definition; barrier height; metal-semiconductor interface; microwave noise performance; microwave trap noise; noise performance degradation; noise temperature measurements; reactive ion etching; thermal treatment; Acoustical engineering; Anodes; Etching; Fabrication; Gallium arsenide; Microwave devices; Schottky diodes; Temperature measurement; Testing; Thermal degradation;
Journal_Title :
Electron Device Letters, IEEE