Laser Annealed and Thermal Annealed Refractory Ohmic Contacts to GaAs

Ohmic contacts to n-type GaAs have been developed for high-temperature device applications up to 300°C. Refractory metallizations were used with epitaxial Ge layers to form the contacts TiW/Ge/GaAs, Ta/Ge/GaAs, Mo/Ge/GaAs, and Ni/Ge/GaAs. Contacts with high dose Si or Se ion implantation (1012 to 1014/cm2) of the Ge/GaAs interface were also investigated. The purpose of this work was to develop refractory ohmic contacts with low specific-contact resistance (~10-6 Ωcm2 on 1 x 1017cm-3GaAs) which are free of imperfections, resulting in a uniform n+ doping layer. The contacts were fabricated on epitaxial GaAs layers (n = 2 x 1016 to 2 x 1017 cm-3) grown on n+ ( 2 x 1018 cm-3) or semi-insulating GaAs (at strates. Ohmic contact was formed by both thermal annealing ( at temperatures up to 700°C) and laser annealing (pulsed Ruby). Examination of the Ge/GaAs interface revealed Ge migration into GaAs to form an n+layer. Under optimum laser anneal conditions, the specific contact resistance was in the range 1-5 x 10-6 Ω-cm2 (on 2 x 1017cm-3GaAs). Thermally annealed TiW/Ge had a contact resitivity of 1 x 10-6 Ω cm2 on 1 x 1017 cm-3 GaAs under optimum anneal conditions. The contacts also showed improved thermal stability over conventional Ni/AuGe contacts at temperatures above 300°C.