Study of Displacement Damage in β-Ga₂O₃ Schottky Barrier Diodes Induced by 14-MeV Neutron Irradiation

This study investigates the displacement damage in β-Ga<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><roman>2</roman></sub>O<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><roman>3</roman></sub> Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) under different neutron fluences using a 14-MeV neutron irradiation source. The electrical performance of the devices before and after irradiation was evaluated through direct current–voltage (<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">I</i>–<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">V</i><roman xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">)</roman> and capacitance–voltage (<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">C</i>–<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">V</i><roman xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">)</roman> measurements. The results show that as the irradiation fluence increases, the forward current density of the device decreases, while the reverse current density and leakage current density increase, indicating that the degradation of the device intensifies with higher irradiation fluence. By employing frequency-dependent conductance techniques and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), changes in the bulk defect concentrations before and after irradiation were analyzed. It was found that the primary cause of device performance degradation is the increase in bulk defect concentrations related to oxygen vacancies induced by neutron irradiation. These findings were further validated through 2-D numerical simulations using technology computer-aided design (TCAD) tools, providing significant theoretical insights and experimental data to enhance the reliability and optimize the design of such devices.