Enhancement of p-GaN conductivity using PECVD SiOx

A technique to enhance the hole concentration in activated Mg-doped p-type GaN epitaxial layers is described. The method consists of depositing a porous plasma-nhancedchemical vapor deposited SiOx layer on top of p-GaN after which the sample is heated to 950°C in nitrogen ambient for 1 min followed by the removal of the SiOx layer in a buffered HF solution. A significant improvement of the conductivity of the p-GaN layer has been obtained

Dislocation Density-Dependent Quality Factors in InGaN Quantum Dot Containing Microdisks

Microdisks incorporating InGaN quantum dots were fabricated using SiO2 microspheres as a hard mask in conjunction with a photoelectrochemical etch step from a structure containing a sacrificial InGaN/InGaN superlattice. Formation of microdisks from two near-identical structures with differing dislocation densities was carried out and investigated using microphotoluminescence. This confirmed the existence of quantum dots through the presence of resolution limited spectral lines and showed a clear correlation between the resulting modes quality factors and the dislocation densities within the disks. The disks with higher dislocation densities showed up to 80% lower quality factors than the low dislocation density disks.Engineering and Applied Science

Acceptor state anchoring in gallium nitride

The dual nature of the magnesium acceptor in gallium nitride results in dynamic defect complexes. Europium spectator ions reveal switching between two spectrally unique metastable centres, each corresponding to a particular acceptor state. By ion co-implantation of europium and oxygen into GaN(Mg), we produce, in addition, an anchored state system. In doing so we create an abundance of previously unidentified stable centres which we denote as "Eu0(Ox)". We introduce a microscopic model for these centres with oxygen substituting for nitrogen in the bridging site

Directly correlated microscopy of trench defects in InGaN quantum wells

Directly correlated measurements of the surface morphology, light emission and subsurface structure and composition were carried out on the exact same nanoscale trench defects in InGaN quantum well (QW) structures. Multiple scanning probe, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy techniques were used to explain the origin of their unusual emission behaviour and the relationship between surface morphology and cathodoluminescence (CL) redshift. Trench defects comprise of an open trench partially or fully enclosing material in InGaN QWs with different CL emission properties to their surroundings. The CL redshift was shown to typically vary with the width of the trench and the prominence of the material enclosed by the trench above its surroundings. Three defects, encompassing typical and atypical features, were prepared into lamellae for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A cross marker technique was used in the focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM) to centre the previously characterised defects in each lamella for further analysis. The defects with wider trenches and strong redshifts in CL emission had their initiating basal-plane stacking fault (BSF) towards the bottom of the QW stack, while the BSF formed near the top of the QW stack for a defect with a narrow trench and minimal redshift. The raised-centre, prominent defect showed a slight increase in QW thickness moving up the QW stack while QW widths in the level-centred defect remained broadly constant. The indium content of the enclosed QWs increased above the BSF positions up to a maximum, with an increase of approximately 4% relative to the surroundings seen for one defect examined. Gross fluctuations in QW width (GWWFs) were present in the surrounding material in this sample but were not seen in QWs enclosed by the defect volumes. These GWWFs have been linked with indium loss from surface step edges two or more monolayers high, and many surface step edges appear pinned by the open trenches, suggesting another reason for the higher indium content seen in QWs enclosed by trench defects

MOVPE studies of zincblende GaN on 3C-SiC/Si(0 0 1)

Cubic zincblende GaN films were grown by metalorganic vapour-phase epitaxy on 3C-SiC/Si (0 0 1) templates and characterized using Nomarski optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission-electron microscopy. In particular, structural properties were investigated of films where the growth temperature of a GaN epilayer varied in the range of 830 °C to 910 °C and the gas-phase V/III-ratio varied from 15 to 1200 at a constant reactor pressure of 300 Torr. It was observed that with increasing epi temperature at a constant V/III-ratio of 76, the film surface consisted of micrometer-sized elongated features aligned along [1 –1 0] up to a temperature of 880 °C. The zincblende phase purity of such samples was generally high with a wurtzite fraction of less than 1%. When grown above 880 °C the GaN surface morphology degraded and the zincblende phase purity reduced as a result of inclusions with the wurtzite phase. A progressive narrowing of the 002 reflection with increasing epi growth temperature suggested an improvement of the film mosaicity. With increasing V/III-ratio at a constant growth temperature of 880 °C, the film surface formed elongated features aligned along [1 –1 0] at V/III values between 38 and 300 but the morphology became granular at both lower and higher V/III values. The zincblende phase purity is high at V/III values below 300. A slight broadening of the 002 X-ray diffraction reflection with increasing V/III-ratio indicated a small degradation of mosaicity. Scanning electron diffraction analyses of cross-sectional transmission-electron micrographs taken of a selection of samples illustrated the spatial distribution, quantity and structure of wurtzite inclusions within the zincblende GaN matrix. Within the limits of this study, the optimum epilayer growth conditions at a constant pressure of 300 Torr were identified to be at a temperature around 860 °C to 880 °C and a V/III-ratio in the range of 23 to 76, resulting in relatively smooth, zincblende GaN films without significant wurtzite contamination

Current instabilities in resonant tunnelling diodes based on GaN/AlN heterojunctions

Present paper studies double barrier resonant tunnelling diodes (DB-RTD) based on GaN/AlGaN heterostructures, grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE). Tunnel (current-voltage, I–V) and capacitance (capacitance-voltage, C–V) spectroscopy measurements were performed at the temperature range from 4.2 to 300 K. It has been found that measured characteristics of DB-RTD have complex nonlinear behavior and reveal the current discontinuities of I–V curves. The features can be explained by the existence of polarization fields and interface defects. These effects strongly influence on the potential profile of the DB-RTD heterostructures. To understand physics of the processes, numerical simulations of the given structures, using a model based on real-time Green’s functions, have been performed. Comparative analysis of experimental and numerical data showed that the current instability and nonlinearity of characteristics of the nitride based DB-RTD can be connected with trapping the electrons onto interfacial and dislocation states in these heterostructures

Deconvolution and Curve-Fitting of IR Spectra for CO Adsorbed on Pt/K-LTL: Potassium Promoter Effect and Adsorption Site Distribution.

Diffuse reflectance infrared (DRIFT) spectra have been obtained for carbon monoxide adsorbed with and without H2O on Pt/K-LTL zeolite. The complex spectra of CO linearly adsorbed on highly dispersed Pt have been analyzed by the combination of Fourier self-deconvolution and curve fitting. The linear-CO spectrum is composed of two broad multiplets: a high-frequency band (HFB) at 2100-1980 cm-1 and a low-frequency band (LFB) at 1990-1860 cm-1. The relative intensities of the HFB and LFB depend on the amount of coadsorbed water in the zeolite pores. The LFB is associated with an ion-dipole interaction between the oxygen atoms of CO species with potassium cations from the zeolite support. The HFB is associated with linear-CO unperturbed by the alkali promoter effect. It is proposed that water preferentially adsorbs on the K+ ions, shielding the ion-dipole interaction. The individual components of the complex HFB and LFB are proposed to be due to CO molecules adsorbed on platinum atoms with different coordination numbers. The average coordination number of the Pt atoms in K-LTL, determined in the applied deconvolution and curvefitting program, corresponds well with that obtained by EXAFS, indicating a metal particle size distribution with particles containing between 1 and 13 platinum atoms. By applying the newly developed method, several literature IR CO spectra of Pt/K-LTL with different relative intensities in the HFB region have been analyzed successfully by adjusting the particle size distribution only. In view of the new results showing the prominent effects of particle size distribution and potassium promotion on the IR spectra of adsorbed CO, previously reported conclusions concerning metal-support interactions in PT/K-LTL should be reconsidered when based on infrared spectroscopic data

Enhancement of p-GaN conductivity using PECVD SiOx

A technique to enhance the hole concentration in activated Mg-doped p-type GaN epitaxial layers is described. The method consists of depositing a porous plasma-nhancedchemical vapor deposited SiOx layer on top of p-GaN after which the sample is heated to 950°C in nitrogen ambient for 1 min followed by the removal of the SiOx layer in a buffered HF solution. A significant improvement of the conductivity of the p-GaN layer has been obtained

Post-growth enhancement of p-GaN conductivity

The paper reports on the investigation an improvement of the p-type conductivity of Mg-doped GaN by creating Ga-vacancies in the lattice

Hydrogen as a Modifier of the Structure and Electronic Properties of Platinum in Acidic Zeolite. LTL: A Combined Infrared and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy Study.

The structure and electronic properties of platinum in WH-LTL after reduction at 300 'C and heating in helium to 500 or 690 'C were determined using X-ray absorption and infrared spectroscopy. After reduction at 300 'C, the platinum particles were metallic, consisted of 4 or 5 atoms, and were located at 2.64 A from the oxygen atoms in the zeolite framework. The particles remained metallic but increased in size to e13 atoms during hydrogen desorption by heating in a helium flow up to 690 'C. Simultaneously, the distance between metal particle and oxygen atoms of the zeolite framework was shortened to 2.05 A. After reduction at 300 'C and in the presence of chemisorbed hydrogen, the platinum atoms in the PT/H-LTL catalyst had more holes in the d-band than bulk platinum. Hydrogen desorption decreased the number of holes of the platinum atoms in the WH-LTL catalyst to levels lower than bulk metal values. The linear CO band shifted from 2071 to 2084 cm-' upon hydrogen desorption, due to the increased particle size andor the change in the structure of the metal-support interface. The apparent contradiction between the shift to higher wavenumbers of the linear CO band and the decreased number of holes in the d-band was attributed to the interaction of CO with filled d-orbitals and the effect of chemisorbed hydrogen on the distribution of the local density of states