III-V metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors with high κ dielectrics

Research efforts on achieving low interfacial density of states (D-it) as well as low electrical leakage currents on GaAs-based III-V compound semiconductors are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on ultra high vacuum (UHV) deposited Ga2O3(Gd2O3) and atomic layer deposition (ALD)-Al2O3 on GaAs and InGaAs. Ga2O3(Gd2O3), the novel oxide, which was electron-beam evaporated from a gallium-gadolinium-garnet target, has, for the first time, unpinned the Fermi level of the oxide/GaAs heterostructures. Interfacial chemical properties and band parameters of valence band offsets and conduction band offsets in the oxides/III-V heterostructures are studied and determined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrical leakage transport measurements. The mechanism of III-V surface passivation is discussed. The mechanism of Fermi-level unpinning in ALD-Al2O3 ex-situ deposited on InGaAs were studied and unveiled. Systematic heat treatments under various gases and temperatures were studied to achieve low leakage currents of 10(-8)-10(-9) A/cm(2) and low D-it's in the range of (4-9) x 10(10)cm(-2)eV(-1) for Ga2O3(Gd2O3) on IDGaAS. By removing moisture from the oxide, thermodynamic stability of the Ga2O3(Gd2O3)/GaAs heterostructures was achieved with high temperature annealing, which is needed for fabricating inversion-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor filed-effect transistors (MOSFET's). The oxide remains amorphous and the interface remains intact with atomic smoothness and sharpness. Device performances of inversion-channel and depletion-mode Ill-V MOSFET's are reviewed, again with emphasis on the devices using Ga2O3(Gd2O3) as the gate dielectric.