Solid-State Carbon-Doped GaN Schottky Diodes by Controlling Dissociation of the Graphene Interlayer with a Sputtered AlN Capping Layer

Carbon-doped GaN (GaN:C) Schottky diodes are prepared by controlling the destruction status of the graphene interlayer (GI) on the substrate. The GI without a sputtered AlN capping layer (CL) was destroyed because of ammonia precursor etching behavior in a high-temperature epitaxy. The damaged GI, like nanographite as a solid-state carbon doping source, incorporated the epitaxial growth of the GaN layer. The secondary ion mass spectroscopy depth profile indicated that the carbon content in the GaN layer can be tuned further by optimizing the sputtering temperature of AlN CL because of the better capping ability of high crystalline quality AlN CL on GI being achieved at higher temperature. The edge-type threading dislocation density and carbon concentration of the GaN:C layer with an embedded 550 °C-grown AlN CL on a GI substrate can be significantly reduced to 2.28 × 10