The phase equilibria in the ternary Ti-Ga-N have been investigated. Interfacial reactions in Ti/GaN contacts have been studied by diffusion couple experiments. The ternary phase Ti2GaN was confirmed by x-ray diffraction in bulk samples as well as in massive Ti/GaN diffusion couples and annealed Ti thin films on GaN. The diffusion path in samples, annealed at 850°C in Ar gas, is GaN/TiN/Ti2GaN/Ti3Ga/Ti. A planar TiN layer forms in direct contact to GaN and governs the electrical properties of annealed Ti/GaN contacts. Thin film contacts were fabricated by sputtering Ti on MOVPE grown n-GaN (5×1017cm−3) and subsequent rapid thermal annealing in an Argon atmosphere. Initially non-linear current-voltage characteristics become ohmic after annealing and a specific contact resistance of approximately 10−2 Ωcm2, measured with the circular transmission line method, was found after annealing at 9000C for 1 min.
