Improvement of the carrier transport property and interfacial behavior in InGaAs quantum well Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistors with sulfur passivation

In this study, we investigated the effect of a sulfur passivation (S-passivation) process step on the electrical properties of surface-channel In_0.7Ga_0.3As quantum-well (QW) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) with S/D regrowth contacts. We fabricated long-channel In_0.7Ga_0.3As QW MOSFETs with and without (NH₄)₂S treatment and then deposited 1/4 nm of Al₂O₃/HfO₂ through atomic layer deposition. The devices with S-passivation exhibited lower values of subthreshold swing (74 mV/decade) and drain-induced barrier lowering (19 mV/V) than the devices without S-passivation. A conductance method was applied, and a low value of interface trap density Dit (2.83×10¹² cm^-2eV^-1) was obtained for the devices with S-passivation. Based on these results, interface traps between InGaAs and high-κ are other defect sources that need to be considered in future studies to improve III-V microsensor sensing platforms.