Mechanism and control of current transport in GaN and AlGaN Schottky barriers for chemical sensor applications

Strong interests are recently emerging for development of integrated high-performance chemical sensor chips. In this paper, the present status of understanding and controlling the current transport in the GaN and AlGaN Schottky diodes is discussed from the viewpoint of chemical sensor applications. For this purpose, a series of works recently carried out by our group are reviewed in addition to a general discussion. First, current transport in GaN and AlGaN Schottky barriers is discussed, introducing the thin surface barrier (TSB) model to explain the anomalously large leakage currents. Following this, attempts to reduce the leakage currents are presented and discussed. Then, as an example of gas-phase sensors using Schottky barriers, a Pd/AlGaN/GaN Schottky diode hydrogen sensor developed recently by our group is presented with a discussion on the sensing mechanism and related current transport. On the other hand, in liquid-phase sensors, contact is made between liquid and semiconductor which is regarded as a kind of Schottky barrier by electrochemists. As one of such liquid-phase sensors, open-gate AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field effect transistor (HFET) pH sensor developed recently by our group is presented. Finally, a brief summary is given together with some remarks for future research.