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Multidimensional validation of low-damage BCl[formula omitted]/Ar atomic layer etching for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.

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Title: Multidimensional validation of low-damage BCl[formula omitted]/Ar atomic layer etching for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.
Authors: Gao, Boxuan1 (AUTHOR), Zhu, Jiejie1 (AUTHOR) jjzhu@mail.xidian.edu.cn, Li, Mengdi1 (AUTHOR), Qin, Lingjie1 (AUTHOR), Qian, Yuchen1 (AUTHOR), Huang, Simei1 (AUTHOR), Li, Huilin1 (AUTHOR), Liao, Wanshuo1 (AUTHOR), Ma, Xiaohua1 (AUTHOR)
Source: Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing. Nov2025, Vol. 198, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
Subjects: Electric distortion, Phonon scattering, Root-mean-squares, Light scattering, Surface analysis
Abstract: This study fabricated recessed-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs using atomic layer etching (ALE), with unetched devices and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching as controls.Multidimensional characterization comparing surface morphology, electrical properties, trap distributions, and carrier transport dynamics confirmed the low-damage characteristics and optimization capability of ALE. ALE reduces the root mean square (RMS) roughness from 0. 210 nm to 0. 182 nm , while conventional ICP etching drastically increases the RMS to 0. 481 nm , demonstrating ALE's remarkable suppression of etching-induced surface damage. At identical remaining barrier layer thickness, ALE-processed devices exhibit a peak transconductance (g m) of 170. 4 mS/mm , representing a 35.13% enhancement over unetched samples, while ICP etching led to a 14.96% decline. Moreover, ALE reduces the gate leakage current by three orders of magnitude compared to ICP etching, corroborating its low-damage characteristics.TCAD simulations revealed that, ICP etching generates high-density defects at the AlGaN interface, leading to localized electric field distortion and Frenkel–Poole emission. In contrast, ALE effectively inhibits defect generation and alleviated electric field crowding, confirming its intrinsic low-defect properties. Carrier transport analysis further confirmed that the dominant scattering mechanism in both unetched and ALE-processed devices is optical phonon scattering, with mobilities of 1415. 3 cm 2 / V ⋅ s and 1450. 5 cm 2 / V ⋅ s , respectively. For ICP-etched devices, the dominant mechanism transitions to remote charge scattering, causing a sharp mobility drop to 410. 1 cm 2 / V ⋅ s.These results demonstrate low-damage advantages of ALE in morphology, electrical properties, defect control, and mobility optimization, providing both theoretical support and experimental paradigms for precision etching processes and high-performance GaN-based device fabrication. • ALE achieves 0. 182 nm surface roughness much lower than ICP etched devices. • ALE preserves carrier mobility (∼ 1450 cm2/V ⋅ s), while ICP degrades it to 410 cm2/V ⋅ s. • TCAD simulation reveals that atomic layer etching (ALE) effectively inhibits defect-induced electric fields, thereby significantly mitigating Frenkel–Poole emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
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DbLabel: Engineering Source
An: 186591069
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Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Multidimensional validation of low-damage BCl[formula omitted]/Ar atomic layer etching for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.
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  Label: Authors
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gao%2C+Boxuan%22">Gao, Boxuan</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zhu%2C+Jiejie%22">Zhu, Jiejie</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> jjzhu@mail.xidian.edu.cn</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Li%2C+Mengdi%22">Li, Mengdi</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Qin%2C+Lingjie%22">Qin, Lingjie</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Qian%2C+Yuchen%22">Qian, Yuchen</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Huang%2C+Simei%22">Huang, Simei</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Li%2C+Huilin%22">Li, Huilin</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Liao%2C+Wanshuo%22">Liao, Wanshuo</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ma%2C+Xiaohua%22">Ma, Xiaohua</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Materials+Science+in+Semiconductor+Processing%22">Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing</searchLink>. Nov2025, Vol. 198, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subjects
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Electric+distortion%22">Electric distortion</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Phonon+scattering%22">Phonon scattering</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Root-mean-squares%22">Root-mean-squares</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Light+scattering%22">Light scattering</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Surface+analysis%22">Surface analysis</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This study fabricated recessed-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs using atomic layer etching (ALE), with unetched devices and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching as controls.Multidimensional characterization comparing surface morphology, electrical properties, trap distributions, and carrier transport dynamics confirmed the low-damage characteristics and optimization capability of ALE. ALE reduces the root mean square (RMS) roughness from 0. 210 nm to 0. 182 nm , while conventional ICP etching drastically increases the RMS to 0. 481 nm , demonstrating ALE's remarkable suppression of etching-induced surface damage. At identical remaining barrier layer thickness, ALE-processed devices exhibit a peak transconductance (g m) of 170. 4 mS/mm , representing a 35.13% enhancement over unetched samples, while ICP etching led to a 14.96% decline. Moreover, ALE reduces the gate leakage current by three orders of magnitude compared to ICP etching, corroborating its low-damage characteristics.TCAD simulations revealed that, ICP etching generates high-density defects at the AlGaN interface, leading to localized electric field distortion and Frenkel–Poole emission. In contrast, ALE effectively inhibits defect generation and alleviated electric field crowding, confirming its intrinsic low-defect properties. Carrier transport analysis further confirmed that the dominant scattering mechanism in both unetched and ALE-processed devices is optical phonon scattering, with mobilities of 1415. 3 cm 2 / V ⋅ s and 1450. 5 cm 2 / V ⋅ s , respectively. For ICP-etched devices, the dominant mechanism transitions to remote charge scattering, causing a sharp mobility drop to 410. 1 cm 2 / V ⋅ s.These results demonstrate low-damage advantages of ALE in morphology, electrical properties, defect control, and mobility optimization, providing both theoretical support and experimental paradigms for precision etching processes and high-performance GaN-based device fabrication. • ALE achieves 0. 182 nm surface roughness much lower than ICP etched devices. • ALE preserves carrier mobility (∼ 1450 cm2/V ⋅ s), while ICP degrades it to 410 cm2/V ⋅ s. • TCAD simulation reveals that atomic layer etching (ALE) effectively inhibits defect-induced electric fields, thereby significantly mitigating Frenkel–Poole emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1016/j.mssp.2025.109742
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 1
        StartPage: N.PAG
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Electric distortion
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Phonon scattering
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Root-mean-squares
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Light scattering
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Surface analysis
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Multidimensional validation of low-damage BCl[formula omitted]/Ar atomic layer etching for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.
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            NameFull: Gao, Boxuan
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            – D: 01
              M: 11
              Text: Nov2025
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
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