Nickel Gate Electrode Silicon Doping Nitride Semiconductor
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In nitride semiconductor FETs, the inter diffusion between nickel (Ni) and silicon (Si) atoms leads to the formation of nickel silicide, which increases resistivity and degrades device performance due to the diffusion of Ni atoms into the passivation film and Si atoms into the gate electrode, resulting in higher gate resistance and potential short-circuits.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating silicon (Si) atoms into the nickel (Ni) gate electrode at concentrations between 0.01 to 10 atomic percent to suppress the inter diffusion of Ni atoms into the silicon nitride passivation film, thereby maintaining the resistivity and preventing degradation of the semiconductor device's performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a nickel (Ni) gate electrode is used, then good Schottky contact is formed against nitride semiconductor, but inter diffusion occurs between Ni and Si atoms forming nickel silicide which increases resistivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the compositional parameters of the gate electrode by incorporating silicon atoms at controlled concentrations (0.01 to 10 atomic percent) within the nickel layer. This parameter modification suppresses the formation of high-resistivity nickel silicide while maintaining the Schottky contact properties, thereby resolving the contradiction between contact quality and resistivity control
Solution Approach 2:
The gate electrode is designed as a composite material system consisting of nickel with controlled silicon incorporation. This composite structure prevents the formation of separate nickel silicide phases that would increase resistivity, while maintaining the beneficial Schottky contact characteristics of nickel against nitride semiconductor
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The inclusion of Si atoms in the Ni gate electrode effectively prevents the inter diffusion of Ni atoms, maintaining the resistivity of the gate electrode and suppressing the degradation of breakdown voltage and gate length, thus enhancing the overall performance and reliability of the semiconductor device.
Implementation Method 1
The gate electrode makes a Schottky contact against the semiconductor layer through the opening in the first insulating film
Implementation Method 2
the inter diffusion between nickel (Ni) and silicon (Si) atoms leads to the formation of nickel silicide
Implementation Method 3
Incorporating silicon (Si) atoms into the nickel (Ni) gate electrode at concentrations between 0.01 to 10 atomic percent to suppress the inter diffusion of Ni atoms into the silicon nitride passivation film
Data Source
AI summary
A nitride semiconductor device is disclosed, where the nitride semiconductor device is a type of field effect transistor having a gate electrode and an insulating film covering the gate electrode. The gate electrode has stacked metals of nickel (Ni) and gold (Au), while, the insulating film is made of silicon nitride (Si). A feature of the gate electrode of the present invention is that the nickel layer contains silicon (Si) atoms at an atomic concentration from 0.01 at % to 10 at %.