Ion-irradiation damage on GaN p-n junction diodes by inductively coupled plasma etching and its recovery by thermal treatment

Inductively coupled plasma dry etching has been proceeded to form high breakdown-voltage mesa-structured GaN p-n junction diodes for power electronics applications. Occurrences of crystalline damages were inevitable during the etching by accelerated reactive ions. However; the damages were removed by thermal treatment at 850 °C, which lead low specific on-resistances (Ron < 1 mΩ cm2) and high breakdown voltages (VB > 4.2 kV) of the diode.