Semiconductor structure having sets of III-V compound layers and method of forming

1. A semiconductor structure comprising:

a substrate;

a nucleation layer over the substrate;

a first III-V layer over the nucleation layer, wherein the first III-V layer includes a first dopant type;

one or more sets of III-V layers over the first III-V layer, each set of the one or more sets of III-V layers comprising:

a lower III-V layer, wherein the lower III-V layer has a second dopant type opposite the first dopant type, and

an upper III-V layer on the lower III-V layer, wherein the upper III-V layer has the first dopant type; and

a second III-V layer over the one or more sets of III-V layers, the second III-V layer having the second dopant type, wherein the second III-V layer includes a 2-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG) layer; an active layer over the second III-V layer; and a dielectric layer directly over the active layer.

2. The semiconductor structure of claim 1 , further comprising a dielectric layer over the second III-V layer.

3. The semiconductor structure of claim 2 , further comprising an active layer between the dielectric layer and the second III-V layer.

4. The semiconductor structure of claim 2 , further comprising a gate electrode over the dielectric layer.

5. The semiconductor structure of claim 1 , further comprising a pair of source/drain (S/D) electrodes, wherein each of the pair of S/D electrodes directly contacts the second III-V layer.

6. The semiconductor structure of claim 5 , further comprising a gate electrode over the second III-V layer, wherein the gate electrode is closer to a first S/D electrode of the pair of S/D electrodes than a second S/D electrode of the pair of S/D electrodes.

7. The semiconductor structure of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sets of III-V layers comprises a plurality of sets of III-V layers.

8. A semiconductor structure comprising:

a substrate;

a first III-V layer over the substrate, wherein the first III-V layer includes a first dopant type;

one or more sets of III-V layers over the first III-V layer, each set of the one or more sets of III-V layers comprising:

a lower III-V layer, wherein the lower III-V layer has a second dopant type opposite the first dopant type, and

an upper III-V layer on the lower III-V layer, wherein the upper III-V layer has the first dopant type;

a second III-V layer over the one or more sets of III-V layers, the second III-V layer having the second dopant type;

an active layer over the second III-V layer; and

a dielectric layer directly over the active layer.

9. The semiconductor structure of claim 8 , wherein the dielectric layer comprises at least one of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum oxide, tantalum oxide, titanium oxide, zinc oxide or hafnium oxide.

10. The semiconductor structure of claim 8 , further comprising a pair of source/drain (S/D) electrodes, wherein each of the pair of S/D electrodes directly contacts the dielectric layer.

11. The semiconductor structure of claim 10 , wherein each of the pair of S/D electrodes directly contacts the active layer.

12. The semiconductor structure of claim 8 , further comprising a nucleation layer between the substrate and the first III-V layer.

13. The semiconductor structure of claim 8 , further comprising a transition layer between the first III-V layer and the substrate.

14. The semiconductor structure of claim 13 , wherein a thickness of the transition layer ranges from 500 nanometers (nm) to 1000 nm.

15. A method of forming a semiconductor structure, the method comprising:

depositing a first III-V layer having a first-type doping over a substrate;

depositing a plurality of pairs of layers over the first III-V layer until a predetermined number of pairs is deposited, wherein each pair of layers of the plurality of pairs of layers includes a lower III-V compound layer and an upper III-V compound layer, the lower III-V compound layer is undoped or has a second doping type, and the upper III-V compound layer has the first-type dopant;

forming a second III-V compound layer over an upper-most layer of the plurality of pairs of layers, wherein the second III-V compound layer is undoped;

forming an active layer over the second III-V compound layer; and

depositing a dielectric layer over the active layer; and

forming a gate electrode over the dielectric layer, wherein a bottommost surface of the gate electrode is above a topmost surface of the dielectric layer.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising depositing a nucleation layer over the substrate, wherein the depositing of the first III-V layer comprises depositing the first III-V layer over the nucleation layer.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising forming a pair of source/drain (S/D) electrodes over the second III-V layer, wherein each of the pair of S/D electrodes directly contacts both the dielectric layer and the active layer.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein forming the gate electrode comprises forming the gate electrode closer to a first S/D electrode of the pair of S/D electrodes than a second S/D electrode of the pair of S/D electrodes.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising doping the first III-V layer to have a doping concentration greater than 1.0×10 19 atoms/cm 3 .

20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising doping the lower III-V compound layer to have a doping concentration less than or equal to 1.0×10 17 atoms/cm 3 .