In this work, a pulse-mode N2 plasma surface treatment process was proposed as a means of reducing plasma damage and improving the GaN/GaOx ratio on the surface before SiNx deposition, which further contributes to an enhanced density of 2DEG and a reduced sheet resistance. With the pulsed N2 plasma surface treatment combined with subsequent SiNx passivation, the fabricated GaN HEMTs exhibit negligible current collapse and suppressed leakage current. The improved behavior is attributed to the fact that the pulsed N2 plasma is capable of nitriding the surface and removing carbon contaminants as identified through x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Compared to the traditional continuous-wave-mode N2 plasma, the pulsed N2 plasma pre-treatment effectively prevents continuous collisions of the plasma during acceleration, thereby significantly reducing plasma damage. This work offers valuable insights for surface treatment processes in micro- and nanofabrication.

中文翻译：

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在 PECVD SiNx 钝化之前对 AlGaN/GaN HEMT 进行脉冲 N2 等离子体表面处理，以减少等离子体损伤


在这项工作中，提出了一种脉冲模式 N2 等离子体表面处理工艺，作为减少 SiNx 沉积前表面 GaN/GaOx 比率的一种手段，这进一步有助于提高 2DEG 的密度和降低薄层电阻。通过脉冲 N2 等离子体表面处理与随后的 SiNx 钝化相结合，制造的 GaN HEMT 表现出可忽略不计的电流塌陷和抑制的泄漏电流。改进的行为归因于脉冲 N2 等离子体能够对表面进行氮化并去除碳污染物，如 X 射线光电子能谱和能量色散 X 射线光谱所鉴定的那样。与传统的连续波模式 N2 等离子体相比，脉冲 N2 等离子体预处理有效防止等离子体在加速过程中的连续碰撞，从而显着减少等离子体损伤。这项工作为微纳加工中的表面处理工艺提供了有价值的见解。