Ion beam techniques combining insulator deposition and hydrogen plasma etching for III-V compound metal/insulator/semiconductor device applications

AlN and AlNsub(x)Osub(y) layers were grown at low temperature (3000C) on n-type GaAs using the ion beam sputtering technique (of an aluminium target with nitrogen ions) for the fabrication of metal/insulator/semiconductor (MIS)-based devices. Nearly stoichiometric and oxygen-free AlN layers were obtained provided that the starting base vacuum did not exceed (3-5) x 10-8 Torr. However, the presence of oxygen in the layers (about 103 A thick) seems to be necessary to obtain very high resistivities (up to 1017 Ω cm) and dielectric strengths (up to 5 x 106 V cm-1). A detailed analysis of the electrical behaviour of interface states is presented. (Auth.)