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AlN Schottky barrier diodes with low ideality factor (<1.2), low differential ON-resistance (<0.6 mΩ cm²), high current density (>5 kA cm⁻²), and high breakdown voltage (680 V) are reported. The device structure consisted of a two-layer, quasi-vertical design with a lightly doped AlN drift layer and a highly doped Al_0.75Ga_0.25N ohmic contact layer grown on AlN substrates. A combination of simulation, current–voltage measurements, and impedance spectroscopy analysis revealed that the AlN/AlGaN interface introduces a parasitic electron barrier due to the conduction band offset between the two materials. This barrier was found to limit the forward current in fabricated diodes. Further, we show that introducing a compositionally-graded layer between the AlN and the AlGaN reduces the interfacial barrier and increases the forward current density of fabricated diodes by a factor of 10⁴. 

Near-ideal behavior in Schottky contacts to Si-doped AlN was observed as evidenced by a low ideality factor of 1.5 at room temperature. A temperature-independent Schottky barrier height of 1.9 eV was extracted from temperature-dependent I–V measurements. An activation energy of ∼300 meV was observed in the series resistance, which corresponded to the ionization energy of the deep Si donor state. Both Ohmic and Schottky contacts were stable up to 650 °C, with around four orders of magnitude rectification at this elevated temperature. These results demonstrate the potential of AlN as a platform for power devices capable of operating in extreme environments. 

Enhancement mode AlInN/gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) are fabricated by thermally oxidizing the barrier region under the gate. The oxidation is performed at 850 ∘ C in O 2 , and a SiN x mask is used to achieve selective oxidization of the AlInN layer. For comparison, a standard Schottky gate and atomic layer deposition (ALD) Al 2 O 3 metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) HEMTs are fabricated from the same structure and show depletion mode behavior as expected. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) mappings are performed to characterize the gate of the oxidized HEMTs, showing complete oxidation of the AlInN barrier. All the devices are tested to determine their transfer and output characteristics. The results show that the thermally oxidized gate produces a positive shift in threshold voltage at ∼ 4 V and low currents ( ∼ 2 × 10 −7 mA/mm) at zero gate voltage. The oxidized HEMTs are also subjected to postmetallization annealing (PMA) at 400 ∘ C and 500 ∘ C for 10 min flowing 1000 sccm of N 2 , retaining enhancement mode behavior and leading to a further positive shift in threshold voltage.