Investigation of leakage current paths in n-GaN by conductive atomic force microscopy

We have investigated electrical characteristics of leakage current paths in n-GaN layer grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition with conductive-atomic force microscopy (C-AFM). The C-AFM mapping shows two kinds of leakage current paths existing in the n-GaN layer: open-core dislocation and pure screw dislocation. From the localized I-V curves measured by C-AFM, we confirmed that the open-core screw dislocation shows more significant leakage current. We explained these results in terms of a modified Schottky band model based on donor states formed by oxygen segregation at the {10−10} sidewall of the open-core screw dislocation.