In this study, a very thin Ni/Au bilayer metal film was prepared by electron beam evaporation and thermal alloying to form ohmic contact on p-type GaN film. After thermal alloying, the current-voltage (I-V) characteristic of Ni/Au contact on p-type GaN film exhibited ohmic behavior. The Ni/Au contacts showed a specific contact resistance of 1.7 x 10-(2) Ohm cm(2) at an alloying temperature of 450 degrees C. In addition, the light transmittance of the Ni/Au (2 nm/6 nm) bilayer on p-type GaN was measured to be around 85% at 470 nm. These results suggest that a suitable metallization technology for the fabrication of light emitting devices can be achieved. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)00816-5].
