Low Thermal Resistance of Diamond-AlGaN Interfaces Achieved Using Carbide Interlayers

Henry T. Aller; Thomas W. Pfeifer; Abdullah Mamun; Kenny Huynh; Marko Tadjer; Tatyana Feygelson; Karl Hobart; Travis Anderson; Bradford Pate; Alan Jacobs; James Spencer Lundh; Mark Goorsky; Asif Khan; Patrick Hopkins; Samuel Graham

doi:10.1002/admi.202400575

Low Thermal Resistance of Diamond-AlGaN Interfaces Achieved Using Carbide Interlayers

Henry T. Aller, Thomas W. Pfeifer, Abdullah Mamun, Kenny Huynh, Marko Tadjer, Tatyana Feygelson, Karl Hobart, Travis Anderson, Bradford Pate, Alan Jacobs, James Spencer Lundh, Mark Goorsky, Asif Khan, Patrick Hopkins, Samuel Graham

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study investigates thermal transport across nanocrystalline diamond/AlGaN (aluminum gallium nitride) interfaces, crucial for enhancing thermal management in AlGaN-based electronic devices. Chemical vapor deposition growth of diamond directly on AlGaN resulted in a disordered interface with a high thermal boundary resistance (TBR) of 20.6 m²-KGW⁻¹. Sputtered carbide interlayers of boron carbide (B₄C), silicon carbide (SiC), and a mixture of boron carbide and silicon carbide (B₄C/SiC) are employed to reduce thermal boundary resistance in diamond/AlGaN interfaces. The carbide interlayers resulted in record-low thermal boundary resistance values of 3.4 and 3.7 m²-KGW⁻¹ for Al_0.65Ga_0.35N samples with B₄C and SiC interlayers, respectively. STEM imaging of the interface reveals interlayer thicknesses between 1.7 and 2.5 nm, with an amorphous structure. Additionally, Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT) characterization of sections of the STEM images displayed sharp crystalline fringes in the AlGaN layer, confirming it is properly protected from damage from hydrogen plasma during the diamond growth. In order to accurately measure the thermal boundary resistance we develop a hybrid technique, combining time-domain thermoreflectance and steady-state thermoreflectance fitting, offering superior sensitivity to buried thermal resistances. The findings underscore the efficacy of interlayer engineering in enhancing thermal transport and demonstrate the importance of innovative measurement techniques in accurately characterizing complex thermal interfaces. This study provides a foundation for future research in improving thermal properties of semiconductor devices through interface engineering and advanced measurement methodologies.

Original language	English
Article number	2400575
Journal	Advanced Materials Interfaces
Volume	12
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202400575
State	Published - Feb 3 2025
Externally published	Yes

Funding

H.T.A., T.W.P., A.M., K.H., M.G., A.K., P.H., and S.G. would like to acknowledge the financial support from U.S. ONR MURI Grant No. N00014‐18‐1‐2429. For full access to the fitting procedure and associated code used in this study, please refer to the GitHub repository: ExSiTE‐Lab, TDTR Fitting Functions, GitHub, github.com/ExSiTE‐Lab/TDTR_fitting. H.T.A., T.W.P., A.M., K.H., M.G., A.K., P.H., and S.G. would like to acknowledge the financial support from U.S. ONR MURI Grant No. N00014-18-1-2429. For full access to the fitting procedure and associated code used in this study, please refer to the GitHub repository: ExSiTE-Lab, TDTR Fitting Functions, GitHub, github.com/ExSiTE-Lab/TDTR_fitting. H.T.A. and S.G. would also like to acknowledge support by the Army Research Office under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-22-2-0163.

Keywords

electrical devices
nanocrystalline diamond growth
thermal management
thermal transport at interfaces
ultra-wide bandgap

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10.1002/admi.202400575

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Aller, H. T., Pfeifer, T. W., Mamun, A., Huynh, K., Tadjer, M., Feygelson, T., Hobart, K., Anderson, T., Pate, B., Jacobs, A., Lundh, J. S., Goorsky, M., Khan, A., Hopkins, P., & Graham, S. (2025). Low Thermal Resistance of Diamond-AlGaN Interfaces Achieved Using Carbide Interlayers. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 12(3), Article 2400575. https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202400575

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title = "Low Thermal Resistance of Diamond-AlGaN Interfaces Achieved Using Carbide Interlayers",

abstract = "This study investigates thermal transport across nanocrystalline diamond/AlGaN (aluminum gallium nitride) interfaces, crucial for enhancing thermal management in AlGaN-based electronic devices. Chemical vapor deposition growth of diamond directly on AlGaN resulted in a disordered interface with a high thermal boundary resistance (TBR) of 20.6 m2-KGW−1. Sputtered carbide interlayers of boron carbide (B4C), silicon carbide (SiC), and a mixture of boron carbide and silicon carbide (B4C/SiC) are employed to reduce thermal boundary resistance in diamond/AlGaN interfaces. The carbide interlayers resulted in record-low thermal boundary resistance values of 3.4 and 3.7 m2-KGW−1 for Al0.65Ga0.35N samples with B4C and SiC interlayers, respectively. STEM imaging of the interface reveals interlayer thicknesses between 1.7 and 2.5 nm, with an amorphous structure. Additionally, Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT) characterization of sections of the STEM images displayed sharp crystalline fringes in the AlGaN layer, confirming it is properly protected from damage from hydrogen plasma during the diamond growth. In order to accurately measure the thermal boundary resistance we develop a hybrid technique, combining time-domain thermoreflectance and steady-state thermoreflectance fitting, offering superior sensitivity to buried thermal resistances. The findings underscore the efficacy of interlayer engineering in enhancing thermal transport and demonstrate the importance of innovative measurement techniques in accurately characterizing complex thermal interfaces. This study provides a foundation for future research in improving thermal properties of semiconductor devices through interface engineering and advanced measurement methodologies.",

keywords = "electrical devices, nanocrystalline diamond growth, thermal management, thermal transport at interfaces, ultra-wide bandgap",

author = "Aller, \{Henry T.\} and Pfeifer, \{Thomas W.\} and Abdullah Mamun and Kenny Huynh and Marko Tadjer and Tatyana Feygelson and Karl Hobart and Travis Anderson and Bradford Pate and Alan Jacobs and Lundh, \{James Spencer\} and Mark Goorsky and Asif Khan and Patrick Hopkins and Samuel Graham",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Materials Interfaces published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.",

year = "2025",

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doi = "10.1002/admi.202400575",

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T1 - Low Thermal Resistance of Diamond-AlGaN Interfaces Achieved Using Carbide Interlayers

AU - Aller, Henry T.

AU - Pfeifer, Thomas W.

AU - Mamun, Abdullah

AU - Huynh, Kenny

AU - Tadjer, Marko

AU - Feygelson, Tatyana

AU - Hobart, Karl

AU - Anderson, Travis

AU - Pate, Bradford

AU - Jacobs, Alan

AU - Lundh, James Spencer

AU - Goorsky, Mark

AU - Khan, Asif

AU - Hopkins, Patrick

AU - Graham, Samuel

PY - 2025/2/3

Y1 - 2025/2/3

N2 - This study investigates thermal transport across nanocrystalline diamond/AlGaN (aluminum gallium nitride) interfaces, crucial for enhancing thermal management in AlGaN-based electronic devices. Chemical vapor deposition growth of diamond directly on AlGaN resulted in a disordered interface with a high thermal boundary resistance (TBR) of 20.6 m2-KGW−1. Sputtered carbide interlayers of boron carbide (B4C), silicon carbide (SiC), and a mixture of boron carbide and silicon carbide (B4C/SiC) are employed to reduce thermal boundary resistance in diamond/AlGaN interfaces. The carbide interlayers resulted in record-low thermal boundary resistance values of 3.4 and 3.7 m2-KGW−1 for Al0.65Ga0.35N samples with B4C and SiC interlayers, respectively. STEM imaging of the interface reveals interlayer thicknesses between 1.7 and 2.5 nm, with an amorphous structure. Additionally, Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT) characterization of sections of the STEM images displayed sharp crystalline fringes in the AlGaN layer, confirming it is properly protected from damage from hydrogen plasma during the diamond growth. In order to accurately measure the thermal boundary resistance we develop a hybrid technique, combining time-domain thermoreflectance and steady-state thermoreflectance fitting, offering superior sensitivity to buried thermal resistances. The findings underscore the efficacy of interlayer engineering in enhancing thermal transport and demonstrate the importance of innovative measurement techniques in accurately characterizing complex thermal interfaces. This study provides a foundation for future research in improving thermal properties of semiconductor devices through interface engineering and advanced measurement methodologies.

AB - This study investigates thermal transport across nanocrystalline diamond/AlGaN (aluminum gallium nitride) interfaces, crucial for enhancing thermal management in AlGaN-based electronic devices. Chemical vapor deposition growth of diamond directly on AlGaN resulted in a disordered interface with a high thermal boundary resistance (TBR) of 20.6 m2-KGW−1. Sputtered carbide interlayers of boron carbide (B4C), silicon carbide (SiC), and a mixture of boron carbide and silicon carbide (B4C/SiC) are employed to reduce thermal boundary resistance in diamond/AlGaN interfaces. The carbide interlayers resulted in record-low thermal boundary resistance values of 3.4 and 3.7 m2-KGW−1 for Al0.65Ga0.35N samples with B4C and SiC interlayers, respectively. STEM imaging of the interface reveals interlayer thicknesses between 1.7 and 2.5 nm, with an amorphous structure. Additionally, Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT) characterization of sections of the STEM images displayed sharp crystalline fringes in the AlGaN layer, confirming it is properly protected from damage from hydrogen plasma during the diamond growth. In order to accurately measure the thermal boundary resistance we develop a hybrid technique, combining time-domain thermoreflectance and steady-state thermoreflectance fitting, offering superior sensitivity to buried thermal resistances. The findings underscore the efficacy of interlayer engineering in enhancing thermal transport and demonstrate the importance of innovative measurement techniques in accurately characterizing complex thermal interfaces. This study provides a foundation for future research in improving thermal properties of semiconductor devices through interface engineering and advanced measurement methodologies.

KW - electrical devices

KW - nanocrystalline diamond growth

KW - thermal management

KW - thermal transport at interfaces

KW - ultra-wide bandgap

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85206927974

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DO - 10.1002/admi.202400575

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85206927974

SN - 2196-7350

VL - 12

JO - Advanced Materials Interfaces

JF - Advanced Materials Interfaces

IS - 3

M1 - 2400575

ER -

Low Thermal Resistance of Diamond-AlGaN Interfaces Achieved Using Carbide Interlayers

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