Broadband Eddy Current Measurement of the Sheet Resistance of GaN Semiconductors

Abstract

Although the classical four-point probe method usually provides adequate results, it is in many cases inappropriate for the measurement of thin sheet resistance, especially in the case of a buried conductive layer or if the surface contacts are oxidized/degraded. The surface concentration of dislocation defects in GaN samples is known to challenge this kind of measurement. For the GaN sample presented in this study, it even totally impaired the ability of this method to even provide results without a prior deposition of gold metallic contact pads. In this paper, we demonstrate the benefits of using a new broadband multifrequency noncontact eddy current method to accurately measure the sheet resistance of a complicated-to-measure epitaxy-grown GaN-doped sample. The benefits of the eddy current method compared to the traditional four-point method are demonstrated. The multilayer-doped GaN sample is perfectly evaluated, which will allow further development applications in this field. The point spread function of the probe used for this noncontact method was also evaluated using a 3D finite element model using CST-Studio Suite simulation software 2020 and experimental measurements.

Keywords

• eddy-currents
• non-destructive measurements
• epitaxy
• GaN
• coil probe
• electrical conductivity