Buffer‐Less Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Heterostructures on Silicon

Ghosh, Saptarsi; Frentrup, Martin; Hinz, Alexander M.; Pomeroy, James W.; Field, Daniel; Wallis, David J.; Kuball, Martin; Oliver, Rachel A.

doi:10.1002/adma.202413127

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Buffer‐Less Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Heterostructures on Silicon

Saptarsi Ghosh

, Martin Frentrup, Alexander M. Hinz, James W. Pomeroy, Daniel Field, David J. Wallis, Martin Kuball, Rachel A. Oliver

Advanced Materials, Volume: 37, Issue: 9

Swansea University Author: Saptarsi Ghosh

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DOI (Published version): 10.1002/adma.202413127

Abstract

Thick metamorphic buffers are considered indispensable for III-V semiconductor heteroepitaxy on large lattice and thermal-expansion mismatched silicon substrates. However, III-nitride buffers in conventional GaN-on-Si high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) impose a substantial thermal resistance,...

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Published in:	Advanced Materials
ISSN:	0935-9648 1521-4095
Published:	Wiley 2025
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71579

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spelling	2026-04-13T14:36:17.3570073 v2 71579 2026-03-07 Buffer‐Less Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Heterostructures on Silicon 3e247ecabd6eddd319264d066b0ce959 0000-0003-1685-6228 Saptarsi Ghosh Saptarsi Ghosh true false 2026-03-07 ACEM Thick metamorphic buffers are considered indispensable for III-V semiconductor heteroepitaxy on large lattice and thermal-expansion mismatched silicon substrates. However, III-nitride buffers in conventional GaN-on-Si high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) impose a substantial thermal resistance, deteriorating device efficiency and lifetime by throttling heat extraction. To circumvent this, a systematic methodology for the direct growth of GaN after the AlN nucleation layer on six-inch silicon substrates is demonstrated using metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). Crucial growth-stress modulation to prevent epilayer cracking is achieved even without buffers, and threading dislocation densities comparable to those in buffered structures are realized. The buffer-less design yields a GaN-to-substrate thermal resistance of (11 ± 4) m2 K GW−1, an order of magnitude reduction over conventional GaN-on-Si and one of the lowest on any non-native substrate. As-grown AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterojunctions on this template show a high-quality 2D electron gas (2DEG) whose room-temperature Hall-effect mobility exceeds 2000 cm2 V−1 s−1, rivaling the best-reported values. As further validation, the low-temperature magnetoresistance of this 2DEG shows clear Shubnikov-de-Haas oscillations, a quantum lifetime > 0.180 ps, and tell-tale signatures of spin-splitting. These results could establish a new platform for III-nitrides, potentially enhancing the energy efficiency of power transistors and enabling fundamental investigations into electron dynamics in quasi-2D wide-bandgap systems. Journal Article Advanced Materials 37 9 Wiley 0935-9648 1521-4095 1 3 2025 2025-03-01 10.1002/adma.202413127 COLLEGE NANME Aerospace Civil Electrical and Mechanical Engineering COLLEGE CODE ACEM Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee Henry Royce Institute. Grant Number: EP/P024947/1; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Grant Number: EP/N017927/1 2026-04-13T14:36:17.3570073 2026-03-07T16:09:16.4190067 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Electronic and Electrical Engineering Saptarsi Ghosh 0000-0003-1685-6228 1 Martin Frentrup 2 Alexander M. Hinz 3 James W. Pomeroy 4 Daniel Field 5 David J. Wallis 6 Martin Kuball 7 Rachel A. Oliver 8 71579__36497__1131a10e983043879ea004821367c451.pdf 71579.VoR.pdf 2026-04-13T13:40:32.6610198 Output 2903673 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	Buffer‐Less Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Heterostructures on Silicon
spellingShingle	Buffer‐Less Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Heterostructures on Silicon Saptarsi Ghosh
title_short	Buffer‐Less Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Heterostructures on Silicon
title_full	Buffer‐Less Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Heterostructures on Silicon
title_fullStr	Buffer‐Less Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Heterostructures on Silicon
title_full_unstemmed	Buffer‐Less Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Heterostructures on Silicon
title_sort	Buffer‐Less Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Heterostructures on Silicon
author_id_str_mv	3e247ecabd6eddd319264d066b0ce959
author_id_fullname_str_mv	3e247ecabd6eddd319264d066b0ce959_***_Saptarsi Ghosh
author	Saptarsi Ghosh
author2	Saptarsi Ghosh Martin Frentrup Alexander M. Hinz James W. Pomeroy Daniel Field David J. Wallis Martin Kuball Rachel A. Oliver
format	Journal article
container_title	Advanced Materials
container_volume	37
container_issue	9
publishDate	2025
institution	Swansea University
issn	0935-9648 1521-4095
doi_str_mv	10.1002/adma.202413127
publisher	Wiley
college_str	Faculty of Science and Engineering
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department_str	School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Electronic and Electrical Engineering{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Electronic and Electrical Engineering
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description	Thick metamorphic buffers are considered indispensable for III-V semiconductor heteroepitaxy on large lattice and thermal-expansion mismatched silicon substrates. However, III-nitride buffers in conventional GaN-on-Si high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) impose a substantial thermal resistance, deteriorating device efficiency and lifetime by throttling heat extraction. To circumvent this, a systematic methodology for the direct growth of GaN after the AlN nucleation layer on six-inch silicon substrates is demonstrated using metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). Crucial growth-stress modulation to prevent epilayer cracking is achieved even without buffers, and threading dislocation densities comparable to those in buffered structures are realized. The buffer-less design yields a GaN-to-substrate thermal resistance of (11 ± 4) m2 K GW−1, an order of magnitude reduction over conventional GaN-on-Si and one of the lowest on any non-native substrate. As-grown AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterojunctions on this template show a high-quality 2D electron gas (2DEG) whose room-temperature Hall-effect mobility exceeds 2000 cm2 V−1 s−1, rivaling the best-reported values. As further validation, the low-temperature magnetoresistance of this 2DEG shows clear Shubnikov-de-Haas oscillations, a quantum lifetime > 0.180 ps, and tell-tale signatures of spin-splitting. These results could establish a new platform for III-nitrides, potentially enhancing the energy efficiency of power transistors and enabling fundamental investigations into electron dynamics in quasi-2D wide-bandgap systems.
published_date	2025-03-01T07:39:49Z
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score	11.102298

Buffer‐Less Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Heterostructures on Silicon

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