Enhancement of device performance in β-Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diodes with tetramethylammonium hydroxide treatment

Schottky barrier diodes were fabricated on tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH)-treated β-Ga2O3 surfaces with Ni/Au as Schottky metal contacts. TMAH wet surface treatment efficiently reduced the roughness of the β-Ga2O3 surface. An X-ray photoelectron emission analysis of the TMAH-treated β-Ga2O3 surface chemical binding features indicates the effective removal of unwanted surface oxides and contaminants formed unintentionally by chemisorption during exposure to ambient conditions. The TMAH-treated Au/Ni/β-Ga2O3 Schottky diode displayed improved rectification behavior with an increment of barrier height by 0.30eV compared to the untreated diode. The breakdown voltages (Vbr) for the untreated and TMAH-treated Au/Ni/β-Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diode are 298 and 358V, respectively. The decrease in the turn-on resistance (Ron) in the Au/Ni/β-Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diode by TMAH treatment can be ascribed to the improved surface morphology. The improved electrical behavior of the Au/Ni/β-Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diode formed on the TMAH-treated β-Ga2O3 surface can be accredited to the oxygen vacancies reduction, that deceased the carrier concentration in the β-Ga2O3 epilayer and to the improved the surface morphology. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of TMAH wet surface treatment on β-Ga2O3 and its potential as a simple method for fabricating β-Ga2O3-based devices with improved performance.