Direct investigation of localized leakage currents in GaN-on-sapphire pn-diodes

The reliability and robustness of GaN devices continues to suffer from the influence of high dislocation densities. Our group has previously linked dislocations with current leakage paths. In this study, we investigated the localized electroluminescence (EL) signals of these leakage paths in reverse biased GaN pn-diodes grown on a sapphire substrate for their electrical and structural properties. We show that EL signal correlated leakage currents can be modeled by trap-assisted-tunneling (TAT) through segregated impurities at a dislocation. Leakage currents in devices without these leakage paths can be modeled by the Poole-Frenkel (PF) and phonon-assisted-tunneling (PAT) mechanisms. Additionally, we show that this reverse bias leakage, that has historically been attributed to specific dislocation types, cannot be attributed to a specific Burgers vector type.

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Publication Details

Journal
Scientific Reports
Published
2025-11-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-25338-0
Primary Topic
GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Direct investigation of localized leakage currents in GaN-on-sapphire pn-diodes

Enrico Brusaterra, Roland Weingärtner, Elke Meißner, Aidan A. Taylor et al.
Scientific Reports
GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials
article

Direct investigation of localized leakage currents in GaN-on-sapphire pn-diodes

Enrico Brusaterra, Roland Weingärtner, Elke Meißner, Aidan A. Taylor, Frank Brunner, Eldad Bahat‐Treidel, Sven Besendörfer, R. Neumann, Jörg Schulze, Alexander D. Kinstler
article en

Abstract

The reliability and robustness of GaN devices continues to suffer from the influence of high dislocation densities. Our group has previously linked dislocations with current leakage paths. In this study, we investigated the localized electroluminescence (EL) signals of these leakage paths in reverse biased GaN pn-diodes grown on a sapphire substrate for their electrical and structural properties. We show that EL signal correlated leakage currents can be modeled by trap-assisted-tunneling (TAT) through segregated impurities at a dislocation. Leakage currents in devices without these leakage paths can be modeled by the Poole-Frenkel (PF) and phonon-assisted-tunneling (PAT) mechanisms. Additionally, we show that this reverse bias leakage, that has historically been attributed to specific dislocation types, cannot be attributed to a specific Burgers vector type.

Scientific ReportsVol. 15(1)
Infineon Technologies (Germany) (DE), Schott (Germany) (DE), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE), Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (DE), Infineon Technologies (Austria) (AT), Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology (DE)
European Commission, Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership
Openalex Percentile: Top 78%
GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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