Demonstration of AlN Schottky Barrier Diodes With Blocking Voltage Over 1 kV

This letter reports the first demonstration of 1-kV-class AlN Schottky barrier diodes on sapphire substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The device structure mimics the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, consisting of thin <tex-math notation="LaTeX">n </tex-math> -AlN epilayer as the device active region and thick resistive AlN underlayer as the insulator. At room temperature, the devices show outstanding performances with a low turn-ON voltage of 1.2 V, a high ON/OFF ratio of <tex-math notation="LaTeX">~ 10⁵ </tex-math> , a low ideality factor of 5.5, and a low reverse leakage current below 1 nA. The devices also exhibit excellent thermal stability over 500 K owing to the ultra-wide bandgap of AlN. The breakdown voltage of the devices can be further improved by employing field plate, edge termination technologies, and optimizing the SOI-like device structure. This letter presents a cost-effective route to high performance AlN-based Schottky barrier diodes for high-power, high-voltage, and high-temperature applications.