Pt/Ti/p-InGaAsP nonalloyed ohmic contact formed by rapid thermal processing

Nonalloyed ohmic contacts of Pt/Ti to 5×1018 cm−3 doped p-InGaAsP (λg =1.3 μm) have been fabricated by rapid thermal processing of sputtered and e-gun-deposited metallizations. While the former as-deposited had a rectifying characteristic, the latter showed ohmic behavior prior to any heat treatment, with a specific contact resistance of 4×10−3 Ω cm2. Rapid thermal processing at temperatures higher than 400 °C caused the formation of ohmic contacts for the sputtered metals also, but with the evaporated metals producing slightly lower contact resistance. The lowest specific contact resistance values of 3.6–5.5×10−4 Ω cm2 for evaporated and sputtered metallizations, respectively, were achieved in both cases as a result of heating at 450 °C for 30 s. These heating conditions produced only a limited reaction at the Ti/InGaAsP interface, which was sharper for the e-gun-deposited contact, but had a significant effect on the stresses in the Ti/Pt bilayer. In both the sputtered and electron gun evaporated samples, the stresses were inverted from tensile as-deposited to compressive with values of 2.4×109 and 1.0×109 dyn cm−2, respectively, as a result of the heat treatment.