An Al$_{0.25}$Ga$_{0.75}$N/GaN Lateral Field Emission Device with a Nano Void Channel
De-Sheng Zhao1,2**, Ran Liu1**, Kai Fu2, Guo-Hao Yu2, Yong Cai2, Hong-Juan Huang2, Yi-Qun Wang2, Run-Guang Sun1, Bao-Shun Zhang2**
1The State Key Laboratory of ASIC and Systems, School of Information Science and Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 2Nano Fabrication Facility, Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123
Abstract：We report an Al$_{0.25}$Ga$_{0.75}$N/GaN based lateral field emission device with a nanometer scale void channel. A $\sim$45 nm void channel is obtained by etching out the SiO$_{2}$ sacrificial dielectric layer between the semiconductor emitter and the metal collector. Under an atmospheric environment instead of vacuum conditions, the GaN-based field emission device shows a low turn-on voltage of 2.3 V, a high emission current of $\sim$40 $\mu$A (line current density 2.3 mA/cm) at a collector bias $V_{\rm C}=3$ V, and a low reverse leakage of 3 nA at $V_{\rm C}=-3$ V. These characteristics are attributed to the nanometer scale void channel as well as the high density of two-dimensional electron gas in the AlGaN/GaN heterojunction. This type of device may have potential applications in high frequency microelectronics or nanoelectronics.
2018, Vol. 35 
