The electrical properties and thermal stability of ZrB2 Schottky contacts deposited on n-type GaN have been studied. As-deposited contacts had a barrier height of 0.80 eV, which decreased to 0.7 eV after annealing at 300 °C, and to 0.6 eV after additional annealing at 400 °C in nitrogen for 20 min. However, the barrier height remained at about 0.6 eV even when the diodes were annealed at 600 °C...

Zirconium diboride (ZrB2) ceramic possesses a unique combination of nice mechanical performance, high melting point (> 3000 °C) and great high-temperature oxidation resistance (up to 1600 °C), which makes it a promising material system for ever-increasing ultra-high temperature (UHT) applications. However, ZrB2 suffers from poor mechanical performance at UHTs, which could strongly limit its app...