Effects of strained InGaN interlayer on contact resistance between p-GaN and indium tin oxide

Indium tin oxide (ITO), with its transparency and strong adhesion to GaN, has been used as a replacement for Ni/Au as a contact on p-GaN. However, ITO suffers from high contact resistance on p-GaN. In this work, low contact resistance between ITO and the p-GaN layer was consistently achieved using various strained InGaN layers as the interface layers between ITO and p-GaN layer. The doping of InGaN, whether n type or p type, has a relatively weak effect on the contact resistance as long as the thickness of the InGaN layer is adequately controlled. The secondary-ion-mass spectroscopy depth profile reveals that the n-type InGaN strained contact layer was also heavily doped with Mg. Results of this study demonstrate that the piezoelectric field between InGaN and p-GaN is important in reducing the barrier height of Ohmic contact. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.