Atomic arrangement at the Au/p-GaN interface in low-resistance contacts

The atomic arrangement of Ni/Au contacts on p-type GaN has been studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The initial Au/Ni/GaN structure transforms upon annealing at 400-600degreesC into Ni/Au/GaN. The Au layer consists of thin platelets with uniform thickness. High-resolution TEM reveals an atomically sharp interface between GaN and Au, with no intermediate phases present. The epitaxial relationship between the Au layer and the GaN film is (111)Auparallel to(0002)GaN, and [1(1) over bar 0 ]Auparallel to[11(2) over bar 0 ]GaN. Analysis of TEM images shows that Au is directly in contact with Ga atoms, with no evidence of presence of Ni. The interface separation corresponds to covalent Ga and metallic Au, with a bond length of similar to2.5 Angstrom. This corresponds to an atomically abrupt transition between covalently bonded Ga and metallic bonded Au. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.