141 research outputs found
Kinetic modeling of microscopic processes during electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxial growth of GaN/GaAs-based heterostructures
Microscopic growth processes associated with GaN/GaAs molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are examined through the introduction of a first-order kinetic model. The model is applied to the electron cyclotron resonance microwave plasma-assisted MBE (ECR-MBE) growth of a set of delta-GaNyAs1–y/GaAs strained-layer superlattices that consist of nitrided GaAs monolayers separated by GaAs spacers, and that exhibit a strong decrease of y with increasing T over the range 540–580 °C. This y(T) dependence is quantitatively explained in terms of microscopic anion exchange, and thermally activated N surface-desorption and surface-segregation processes. N surface segregation is found to be significant during GaAs overgrowth of GaNyAs1–y layers at typical GaN ECR-MBE growth temperatures, with an estimated activation energy Es ~ 0.9 eV. The observed y(T) dependence is shown to result from a combination of N surface segregation/desorption processes
Efficient optical activation of ion-implanted Zn acceptors in GaN by annealing under 10 kbar N2 overpressure
We continue our investigations into the optical activation of Zn-implanted GaN annealed under ever higher N2 overpressure. The samples studied were epitaxial GaN/sapphire layers of good optical quality which were implanted with a 1013 cm−2 dose of Zn+ ions at 200 keV, diced into equivalent pieces and annealed under 10 kbar of N2. The N2 overpressure permitted annealing at temperatures up to 1250°C for 1 hr without GaN decomposition. The blue Zn-related photoluminescence (PL) signal rises sharply with increasing anneal temperature. The Zn-related PL intensity in the implanted sample annealed at 1250°C exceeded that of the epitaxially doped GaN:Zn standard proving that high temperature annealing of GaN under kbar N2 overpressure can effectively remove implantation damage and efficiently activate implanted dopants in GaN. We propose a lateral LED device which could be fabricated using ion implanted dopants activated by high temperature annealing at high pressur
Direct SIMS Determination of the InxGa1-xN Mole Fraction
We demonstrate that our secondary mass ion spectroscopy (SIMS) method for the determination of the mole fraction in solid InxGa1-xN solutions is accurate and reproduceable without need of reference samples. The method is based on measuring relative current values of CsM+ (M=Ga, In) secondary ions. The claim of reliable SIMS determination without reference samples was confirmed by four independent analytical methods on the same samples with a relative error in the InN mole fraction determination below 15
Acceptor binding energies in GaN and AlN
We employ effective mass theory for degenerate hole-bands to calculate the
acceptor binding energies for Be, Mg, Zn, Ca, C and Si substitutional acceptors
in GaN and AlN. The calculations are performed through the 66
Rashba-Sheka-Pikus and the Luttinger-Kohn matrix Hamiltonians for wurtzite (WZ)
and zincblende (ZB) crystal phases, respectively. An analytic representation
for the acceptor pseudopotential is used to introduce the specific nature of
the impurity atoms. The energy shift due to polaron effects is also considered
in this approach. The ionization energy estimates are in very good agreement
with those reported experimentally in WZ-GaN. The binding energies for ZB-GaN
acceptors are all predicted to be shallower than the corresponding impurities
in the WZ phase. The binding energy dependence upon the crystal field splitting
in WZ-GaN is analyzed. Ionization levels in AlN are found to have similar
`shallow' values to those in GaN, but with some important differences, which
depend on the band structure parameterizations, especially the value of crystal
field splitting used.Comment: REVTEX file - 1 figur
Schottky-based band lineups for refractory semiconductors
An overview is presented of band alignments for small-lattice parameter, refractory semiconductors. The band alignments are estimated empirically through the use of available Schottky barrier height data, and are compared to theoretically predicted values. Results for tetrahedrally bonded semiconductors with lattice constant values in the range from C through ZnSe are presented. Based on the estimated band alignments and the recently demonstrated p-type dopability of GaN, we propose three novel heterojunction schemes which seek to address inherent difficulties in doping or electrical contact to wide-gap semiconductors such as ZnO, ZnSe, and ZnS
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