Parameter Shift of Quasi-Vertical GaN-on-Si Schottky Barrier Diodes Under On-State Forward-Current (2–4 kA/cm2) Stress

In this article, we carry out the parameter shift of quasi-vertical GaN-on-Si Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) under ON-state stress with a high forward current of 2–4 kA/cm2. Turn-on voltage
${V}_{{\mathrm {\mathbf {on}}}}$
, ON-resistance
$R_{ON}$
, reverse leakage current
${I}_{\text {reverse}}$
, Schottky barrier height
$\phi $
, and ideality factor
${n}$
were monitored during the ON-state stress. From semilog scale, all the subthreshold leakage currents increase evidently for a stress voltage of 5 V and a stress time of 50–1000 s. Most of the extracted
${V}_{{\mathrm {\mathbf {on}}}}$
are nearly unchanged for all the 2.5–4.5-V stress and decrease by −0.065 to −0.085 V for 5-V/50–1000-s stress.
$R_{ON}$
first increases and then decreases, and the maximum
$R_{ON}$
shift is only 3.8%. The stressed devices are measured 24 h after the stress, and it is found that
$R_{ON}$
shift under high-current stress is recoverable. The reverse leakage current increases from 2.97
$\times \,\,10^{-{3}}$
to
$7.93\times 10^{-3}$
A/cm2 at a reverse bias of −100 V after 5-V/1000-s stress. The corresponding
$\phi $
decreases from 0.82 to 0.53–0.58 eV, and
${n}$
is increased from 1.03 to 1.87–2.57, indicating the parameter shift occurs at the anode/
${n}$
-GaN interface. Experiments and analysis demonstrate that the device characteristics of quasi-vertical GaN-on-Si SBDs can be degraded to a certain extent under high-current/long-time stress.