GaN RF switches are widely used in today’s communication systems. With digital communications getting more and more popular nowadays, the need for improving the performance of involved RF switches is inevitable. Designing low ON-state resistance GaN switches are exceedingly important to improve the switch insertion loss, isolation and power loss. Moreover, considerations need to be taken into account to improve the switching speed of the involved GaN HEMTs. In this dissertation, a new GaN HEMT structure called “Tunnel MOS Heterostructure FET (TMOSHFET)” is introduced which has lower ON-state resistance and faster switching speed compared to conventional AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. In the switch ON process, the channel of this device is charged up by electron tunneling from a layer underneath the channel as opposed to typical AlGaN/GaN HEMTs in which electron injection from the source is charging up the channel. The tunneling nature of this process together with the shorter travel distance of electrons in TMOSHFET provide for a faster switching speed. In order to understand the tunneling mechanisms in TMOSHFET, the fabrication of AlGaN/GaN Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBDs) with various AlGaN thicknesses is demonstrated on Si (111) substrate. The impacts of SF6 dry etching on the trap density and trap state energy of AlGaN surface are investigated using the GP/w- w method. Various tunneling mechanisms at different biases are then characterized in samples and compared with each other. To improve the source and drain resistances in TMOSHFET, a model is generated to optimize the 2DEG density and electric field in AlGaN/GaN heterostructure based on Al mole fraction, AlGaN thickness and the thickness of SiN passivation layer and it is experimentally verified by non-contact Hall 2DEG density measurements. The spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations together with strain relaxation have been implemented into the model, taking into account the annealing effects. From the experimental data on obtained parameters, the operation and device parameterization of the TMOSHFET is outlined and design considerations to improve the device R_(ON)-V_(BR) figure of merit are discussed.

No description available.

High efficiency solar cells can be attained by the development of two junctions one stacked on top of each other into tandem structures. So that, if a photon is not able to excite an electron-hole pair in the top cell can create a pair in the bottom cell, which has a smaller bandgap. For a two junction tandem device structure, the bandgap of the top cell should be 1.6-1.8eV and for the bottom cell should be 1eV to attain efficiencies in the range of 25%. Cadmium Zinc Telluride which has a tunable bandgap of 1.45- 2.2eV is a candidate for the top cell of the tandem structure. Cadmium Zinc Telluride (Cd1-xZnxTe) films were deposited by co-sputtering of CdTe and ZnTe. Deposition of Cd1-xZnxTe was studied in Ar and Ar/N2 ambient. Characterization of the films was done using transmission response, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Secondary Electron Microscopy (SEM), current-voltage (I-V) and spectral response measurements. CZT deposited on CdS/SnO2 substrates showed improved performance compared to other heterojunction partners. Doped graphite and copper were utilized as back contacts for CZT devices. Post deposition annealing treatments with ZnCl2 on CZT films were done and their effect on the devices was also studied. The best combination of Voc and Jsc were 530mV and 3.66mA/cm² respectively.

The present thesis is a study of the evolution of defect states in devices based on wide bandgap semiconductors. The attention has been focused on light-emitting diodes based on GaN and Schottky diodes based on SiC, these latter a basic structure for the fabrication of high-power rectifiers and ionising particle detectors. In both cases, we studied the defects and their electronic properties by means of the following experimental techniques: current-voltage (I-V) measurements, in order to investigate the effect of imperfections on the transport properties of the material/device; capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements, yielding the profile of concentration of charge carriers, and giving information on the influence of defects on this concentration; deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), a technique allowing for the identification and characterization of defect-originated electron levels in the gap. I also employed techniques, such as photocurrent spectroscopy (PC), allowing for the characterization of light absorption by the material and/or device versus varying photon energy. In both cases of SiC and GaN, the defect characterization was always interpreted in the framework of its influence on device operation. In the analysed LEDs the defect evolution was connected to the evolution of quantum efficiency, and in the SiC diodes we studied the effects of defect introduction on the charge collection efficiency (CCE) and on the leakage current of the device. Furthermore, for the interpretation of photocurrent spectra, I developed a model describing the generation of photocurrent considering the dispersion relations for the absorption coefficient and refractive index in the various device layers, as well as the internal reflection, transmission and interference phenomena involving the optical field within the device. The research yielded various interesting results: I detected many deep levels introduced by proton- and electron-irradiation in SiC. From the study of their annealing behaviour I concluded that one of these levels is related to a particular lattice defect, the carbon interstitial. By means of the analysis of the introduction rates of the levels and comparisons between proton and electron irradiation, I was able to distinguish between deep levels related to simple intrinsic defects and to defect complexes. In the case of the GaN LED, I found that the evolution of several independent properties are strongly correlated, meaning that a single degradation mechanism is responsible for the observed changes. In particular, I concluded that the degradation of the light emission intensity is due to the generation of defects in the active region of the device.

abstract: Wurtzite (In, Ga, Al) N semiconductors, especially InGaN material systems, demonstrate immense promises for the high efficiency thin film photovoltaic (PV) applications for future generation. Their unique and intriguing merits include continuously tunable wide band gap from 0.70 eV to 3.4 eV, strong absorption coefficient on the order of ∼105 cm−1, superior radiation resistance under harsh environment, and high saturation velocities and high mobility. Calculation from the detailed balance model also revealed that in multi-junction (MJ) solar cell device, materials with band gaps higher than 2.4 eV are required to achieve PV efficiencies greater than 50%, which is practically and easily feasible for InGaN materials. Other state-of-art modeling on InGaN solar cells also demonstrate great potential for applications of III-nitride solar cells in four-junction solar cell devices as well as in the integration with a non-III-nitride junction in multi-junction devices. This dissertation first theoretically analyzed loss mechanisms and studied the theoretical limit of PV performance of InGaN solar cells with a semi-analytical model. Then three device design strategies are proposed to study and improve PV performance: band polarization engineering, structural design and band engineering. Moreover, three physical mechanisms related to high temperature performance of InGaN solar cells have been thoroughly investigated: thermal reliability issue, enhanced external quantum efficiency (EQE) and conversion efficiency with rising temperatures and carrier dynamics and localization effects inside nonpolar m-plane InGaN quantum wells (QWs) at high temperatures. In the end several future work will also be proposed. Although still in its infancy, past and projected future progress of device design will ultimately achieve this very goal that III-nitride based solar cells will be indispensable for today and future’s society, technologies and society. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2020

No description available.

A mesure que les demandes dans le domaine de l'électronique de puissance tendent vers des conditions de plus en plus extrêmes (forte densité de puissance, haute fréquence, haute température,…), l'évolution des systèmes de traitement de l'énergie électrique se heurte aux limites physiques du silicium. Une nouvelle approche basée sur l'utilisation des matériaux semi-conducteurs grand gap permettra de lever ces limites. Parmi ces matériaux, le diamant possède les propriétés les plus intéressantes pour l'électronique de puissance: champ de rupture et conductivité thermique exceptionnels, grandes mobilités des porteurs électriques, possibilité de fonctionnement à haute température… Les récents progrès dans la synthèse du diamant par des méthodes de dépôt en phase vapeur (CVD) permettent d'obtenir des substrats de caractéristiques cristallographiques compatibles avec l'exploitation de ces propriétés en électronique de puissance. Cependant, l'utilisation du diamant en tant que matériau électronique reste toutefois délicate à ce jour du fait de la grande difficulté de trouver des dopants convenables (en particulier les donneurs) dans le diamant. En outre, certaines propriétés du diamant telles que sa dureté extrême et son inertie chimique, faisant de lui un matériau unique, posent aussi des difficultés dans son utilisation technologique. L'objectif de ces travaux de thèse a été dans un premier temps d'évaluer les bénéfices que pourrait apporter le diamant en électronique de puissance ainsi que l'état de l'art de sa synthèse par dépôt en phase vapeur. Ensuite, différentes étapes technologiques nécessaires à la fabrication de composants sur diamant ont été étudiées: Gravure RIE, dépôt de contacts électriques. Enfin, ces travaux ont été illustrés par la réalisation et la caractérisation de diodes Schottky, dispositifs élémentaires de l'électronique de puissance. Les résultats obtenus permettent d'établir un bilan des verrous scientifiques et technologiques qu'il reste à relever pour une exploitation industrielle de la filière diamant. / As applications in the field of power electronics tend toward more extreme conditions (high power density, high frequency, high temperature ...), evolution of electric power treatment systems comes up against physical limits of silicon, the main semiconductor material used in electronic industry for over 50 years. A new approach based on the use of wide bandgap semiconductor materials will permit to overcome those limits. Among these materials, diamond is a very attractive material for power electronics switch devices due to its exceptional properties: high electric breakdown field, high carriers mobilities, exceptional thermal conductivity, high temperature operating possibility... However, the use of diamond as an electronic material is still very problematic due to the difficulty in the synthesis of high electronic grade CVD diamond and to find suitable dopants (in particular donors) in diamond. Besides, some of the unique properties of diamond, such as its extreme hardness and chemical inertness that make it an attractive material also cause difficulties in its application. Nevertheless, recent progress in the field of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis of diamond allow the study of the technological steps (RIE etching, ohmic and Schottky contacts, passivation,...) necessary for future diamond power devices processing. This is the aim of this thesis. In a first section, the uniqueness of diamond, the promise it bears as a potential material for specific electronic devices and the difficulties related to its application were reviewed. Then, the different technological steps required for power switching devices processing were studied: RIE etching, Ohmic and Schottky contacts. Finally, these works were illustrated by carrying out and electrical characterizations of Schottky Barrier Diodes. The achieved results allow us to make a summary of scientific and technological locks that remain for an industrial exploitation of diamond in power electronic switch devices field.

abstract: Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors GaN (3.4 eV), Ga2O3 (4.8 eV) and AlN (6.2 eV), have gained considerable interests for energy-efficient optoelectronic and electronic applications in solid-state lighting, photovoltaics, power conversion, and so on. They can offer unique device performance compared with traditional semiconductors such as Si. Efficient GaN based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have increasingly displaced incandescent and fluorescent bulbs as the new major light sources for lighting and display. In addition, due to their large bandgap and high critical electrical field, WBG semiconductors are also ideal candidates for efficient power conversion. In this dissertation, two types of devices are demonstrated: optoelectronic and electronic devices. Commercial polar c-plane LEDs suffer from reduced efficiency with increasing current densities, knowns as “efficiency droop”, while nonpolar/semipolar LEDs exhibit a very low efficiency droop. A modified ABC model with weak phase space filling effects is proposed to explain the low droop performance, providing insights for designing droop-free LEDs. The other emerging optoelectronics is nonpolar/semipolar III-nitride intersubband transition (ISBT) based photodetectors in terahertz and far infrared regime due to the large optical phonon energy and band offset, and the potential of room-temperature operation. ISBT properties are systematically studied for devices with different structures parameters. In terms of electronic devices, vertical GaN p-n diodes and Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with high breakdown voltages are homoepitaxially grown on GaN bulk substrates with much reduced defect densities and improved device performance. The advantages of the vertical structure over the lateral structure are multifold: smaller chip area, larger current, less sensitivity to surface states, better scalability, and smaller current dispersion. Three methods are proposed to boost the device performances: thick buffer layer design, hydrogen-plasma based edge termination technique, and multiple drift layer design. In addition, newly emerged Ga2O3 and AlN power electronics may outperform GaN devices. Because of the highly anisotropic crystal structure of Ga2O3, anisotropic electrical properties have been observed in Ga2O3 electronics. The first 1-kV-class AlN SBDs are demonstrated on cost-effective sapphire substrates. Several future topics are also proposed including selective-area doping in GaN power devices, vertical AlN power devices, and (Al,Ga,In)2O3 materials and devices. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2019

Ce travail de thèse porte sur la diffusion des porteurs de charge en excès dans deux semiconducteurs à large bande interdite: l’alliage ZnMgO et le diamant 13C. Il est basé sur l’étude d’hétérostructures ZnMgO/ZnO/ZnMgO et 13C/12C/13C à puits de collecte ZnO ou 12C. Sur leurs sections transverses et avec la résolution nanométrique en excitation par cathodoluminescence (CL), nous avons étudié l’évolution de l’intensité de l’émission issue du puits en ZnO ou 12C en fonction de la distance entre l’impact de l’excitation et le puits. Cela nous a permis de mesurer directement les longueurs de diffusion effectives dans ZnMgO et le diamant.Dans ZnMgO, la valeur de 55 nm à 300 K, mesurée sur section transverse clivée, est proche de celle du matériau massif. Elle correspond à une diffusion mixte excitons/porteurs libres. Avec l’utilisation de lames minces érodées par faisceau d’ions, une diminution de a été observée jusqu’à 8 nm dans les parties les plus fines. Cet effet est attribué aux recombinaisons non radiatives de surface. Les lames minces apparaissent alors d’un grand intérêt pour améliorer la résolution spatiale des images CL.Dans le diamant, la diffusion excitonique à basse température montre une faible dépendance de avec l’énergie incidente des électrons. Cela indique que ≈ 15 µm à 20 K dans le diamant massif 13C. Une diminution de jusqu’à 3,3 µm à 118 K est observée en fonction de la température.Enfin, nous avons mis en évidence la formation de polyexcitons dans le diamant en augmentant la densité des paires électron-trou, soit par la puissance d’excitation, soit par le confinement spatial des excitons dans des puits de diamant 12C de faible épaisseurs. / This work focuses on the determination of the carrier diffusion length in two wide bandgap semiconductors: the ternary alloy ZnMgO and diamond. This determination has been achieved by using of ZnMgO/ZnO/ZnMgO and 13C/12C/13C heterostructures containing ZnO or 12C collecting wells. Their transverse section was scanned by CL spectroscopy with a nanometer scale resolution in excitation. The effective excess carrier diffusion length is deduced from the evolution of the well emission intensity with the distance between the excitation impact and the well.In ZnMgO, the value at 300 K is 55 nm, obtained from a cleaved cross section. It is close to the bulk material diffusion and is attributed to a mixed diffusion of excitons/free carriers. A decrease of down to 8 nm is observed in the thinnest portions of cross sections shaped by focused ion beam (FIB). This effect is attributed to non-radiative surface recombinations. These thin slabs appear of great interest to enhance the spatial resolution of CL images.In diamond, the exciton diffusion at 20 K exhibits a slight dependence on the incident electron energy. This indicates that the exciton diffusion length is around 15 µm in 13C bulk diamond. The values decrease down to 3.3 µm at 118 K.Finally, we highlighted the formation of polyexcitons in diamond by increasing the electron-hole pairs density either by the excitation power, or by the spatial confinement of excitons in thin 12C wells.

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt den Verlauf der Forschung von der Entwicklung einer neuartigen Methode der gepulsten Laser-Plasmaabscheidung (PLD) über die Untersuchung der ternären In- und Al-Legierungssysteme von metastabilem orthorhombischen κ-Ga2O3 auf der Basis dieser Methode hin zu Multi-Quantengraben (QW) Supergitter (SL) Heterostrukturen für transparente Quantengrabeninfrarotphotodetektoren (QWIPs). Im ersten Teil wird die Methode, welche vertical continuous composition spread (VCCS) PLD genannt wird, eingeführt und am MgxZn1−xO Legierungssystem erprobt. Die Methode erlaubt die Kontrolle der Komposition von Dünnfilmen über die radiale Position des PLD Laserspots auf der Targetoberfläche. Das ist eine wichtige Voraussetzung für die Bestimmung der kompositionsabhängigen Eigenschaften der Legierungssysteme und für präzise Profile der physikalischen Eigenschaften in Wachstumsrichtung für das Design von Bauelementen. Die Dünnfilme mit 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4 zeigen die gleichen Eigenschaften wie solche, die mit Standard-PLD abgeschieden wurden. Numerische Modelle werden präsentiert, welche die Dünnfilmkomposition exakt vorhersagen. Im zweiten Teil werden κ-Ga2O3 Dünnfilme durch die Beigabe von Zinn während des PLD Prozesses stabilisiert. Die Dünnfilme weisen hohe kristalline Qualität, glatte Oberflächen und große Bandlücken (Eg ≈ 4.9 eV) auf. Ein Wachstumsmodell wird präsentiert, welches Zinn als Oberflächenschicht beschreibt. Im dritten Teil werden die In- und Al-Legierungssysteme von κ-Ga2O3 mittels VCCS PLD untersucht. Die Löslichkeitsgrenzen xIn <~ 0.35 und xAl <~ 0.65 sind die höchsten bislang berichteten. In- und out-of-plane Gitterkonstanten wurden in Abhängigkeit der Zusammensetzung bestimmt und Eg konnte von 4.1 eV bis 6.4 eV variiert werden. Die Position des Valenzbandmaximums wird als unabhängig von der Komposition gezeigt, womit die Variation in Eg den Leitungsbandunterschieden gleicht und Detektionsbereiche vom fernen IR bis in das Sichtbare für QWIP-Anwendungen bedeutet. Berechnungen anhand dieser Ergebnisse ergeben Polarisationsladungsdichten an Grenzflächen von Heterostrukturen gleich oder höher derer im etablierten AlGaN/GaN System, welche wichtig zur Polarisationsdotierung zur Besetzung des Grundzustandes in QWIPs sind. Dies bestätigt das große Potential der κ-Phase. Im letzten Teil werden erste kohärent gewachsene κ-(AlxGa1−x)2O3/Ga2O3 SL Strukturen untersucht. Glatte Grenzflächen im Bereich weniger Monolagen werden gezeigt und es konnten kritische Dicken für die κ-Ga2O3 QW Schichten bestimmt werden, die für QWIP-Anwendungen genügen. / The presented thesis describes the research path from the development of a novel pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique over the exploration of the ternary In- and Al-alloy systems of metastable orthorhombic κ-Ga2O3 employing this technique towards multi-quantum well (QW) superlattice (SL) heterostructures for solar-blind quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) applications. In the first part, the PLD technique called vertical continuous composition spread (VCCS) PLD employing radially-segmented targets is established and tested on the well-known MgxZn1−xO alloy system. The technique enables direct control of the chemical composition of thin films by a variation of the radial position of the PLD laser spot on the target surface. This is a prerequisite for a discrete compositional screening of alloy properties and the exact tailoring of physical parameters in growth direction for heterostructure device design. The resulting thin films with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4 exhibit the same quality as thin films deposited by standard PLD and numerical models are presented that precisely predict the thin film composition. In the second part, κ-Ga2O3 thin films are stabilized by the addition of tin in the PLD process. The thin films show a high crystalline quality, smooth surfaces and large bandgaps (Eg ≈ 4.9 eV). A growth model is proposed based on tin acting as surfactant. In the third part, the In- and Al-alloy systems of κ-Ga2O3 are explored by VCCS PLD. Solubility limits of xIn <~ 0.35 and xAl <~ 0.65 are the highest reported to date. In- and out-of-plane lattice constants were determined as function of alloy composition and bandgap engineering from 4.1 eV to 6.4 eV is feasible within these limits. The energetic position of the valence band maximum was found independent on chemical composition such that the change in bandgap equals the conduction band offset rendering wavelength ranges from far IR to the visible spectral range in QWIP applications possible. Calculations based on these results found polarization charge densities at the interfaces of corresponding heterostructures on par or larger than for the established AlGaN/GaN system important for polarization doping to populate the ground state in QWIPs. This corroborates the high potential of the κ-phase. In the last part, first coherently grown κ-(AlxGa1−x)2O3/Ga2O3 SL heterostructures are presented. Smooth interfaces of the order of a few monolayers are confirmed and critical thicknesses for coherent growth of the Ga2O3 QW layer are found to be sufficient for QWIP applications.