Temperature-dependent electrical performance of β-Ga2O3 Schottky barrier diodes under 5 MeV proton irradiation

Abstract

This work examines the effects of 5 MeV proton irradiation at a fluence of 1 × 10 13 cm −2 on the electrical characteristics of β-Ga 2 O 3 Schottky barrier diodes over a temperature range of 25 °C to 100 °C. Current–voltage (I-V), capacitance–voltage (C-V), and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements demonstrate that irradiation at 25 °C causes significant damage, lowering the breakdown voltage and carrier concentration while introducing the E C −0.7 eV defect. Experiments at 50 °C-75 °C reveal that thermal annealing counteracts this damage as the temperature rises, partially recovering device performance. However, the E C −0.7 eV defect reappears at 100 °C. Subsequent 50 °C annealing verifies that these defects are the same type. We further verified this finding by extracting the spatial distributions of the leakage current density and carrier lifetime from our technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations. Our work elucidates the critical role of temperature in governing radiation response of β-Ga 2 O 3 .