Brendan P. Gunning

Observation and control of the surface kinetics of InGaN for the elimination of phase separation

The growth of InGaN alloys via Metal-Modulated Epitaxy has been investigated. Transient reflection high-energy electron diffraction intensities for several modulation schemes during the growth of 20% InGaN were analyzed, and signatures associated with the accumulation, consumption, and segregation of excess metal adlayers were identified. A model for shuttered, metal-rich growth of InGaN was then developed, and a mechanism for indium surface segregation was elucidated. It was found that indium surface segregation only occurs after a threshold of excess metal is accumulated, and a method of quantifying this indium surface segregation onset dose is presented. The onset dose of surface segregation was found to be indium-composition dependent and between 1 and 2 monolayers of excess metal. Below this surface threshold off excess metal, metal-rich growth can occur without indium surface segregation. Since at least 2 monolayers of excess metal will accumulate in the case of metal-rich, unshuttered growth of InG...

Negligible carrier freeze-out facilitated by impurity band conduction in highly p-type GaN

Highly p-type GaN films with hole concentrations exceeding 6 × 1019 cm−3 grown by metal-modulated epitaxy are electrically characterized. Temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements at cryogenic temperatures reveal minimal carrier freeze-out in highly doped samples, while less heavily doped samples exhibited high resistivity and donor-compensated conductivity as is traditionally observed. Effective activation energies as low as 43 meV were extracted, and a maximum Mg activation efficiency of 52% was found. In addition, the effective activation energy was found to be negatively correlated to the hole concentration. These results indicate the onset of the Mott-Insulator transition leading to impurity band conduction.

Highly luminescent, high-indium-content InGaN film with uniform composition and full misfit-strain relaxation

We have studied the properties of thick InxGa1−xN films, with indium content ranging from x ∼ 0.22 to 0.67, grown by metal-modulated epitaxy. While the low indium-content films exhibit high density of stacking faults and dislocations, a significant improvement in the crystalline quality and optical properties has been observed starting at x ∼ 0.6. Surprisingly, the InxGa1−xN film with x ∼ 0.67 exhibits high luminescence intensity, low defect density, and uniform full lattice-mismatch strain relaxation. The efficient strain relaxation is shown to be due to a critical thickness close to the monolayer range. These films were grown at low temperatures (∼400 °C) to facilitate indium incorporation and with precursor modulation to enhance surface morphology and metal adlayer diffusion. These findings should contribute to the development of growth techniques for nitride semiconductors under high lattice misfit conditions.

Comprehensive study of the electronic and optical behavior of highly degenerate p-type Mg-doped GaN and AlGaN

The bulk and 2-dimensional (2D) electrical transport properties of heavily Mg-doped p-type GaN films grown on AlN buffer layers by Metal Modulated Epitaxy are explored. Distinctions are made between three primary p-type conduction mechanisms: traditional valence band conduction, impurity band conduction, and 2D conduction within a 2D hole gas at a hetero-interface. The bulk and 2D contributions to the overall carrier transport are identified and the relative contributions are found to vary strongly with growth conditions. Films grown with III/V ratio less than 1.5 exhibit high hole concentrations exceeding 2 × 1019 cm−3 with effective acceptor activation energies of 51 meV. Films with III/V ratios greater than 1.5 exhibit lower overall hole concentrations and significant contributions from 2D transport at the hetero-interface. Films grown with III/V ratio of 1.2 and Mg concentrations exceeding 2 × 1020 cm−3 show no detectable inversion domains or Mg precipitation. Highly Mg-doped p-GaN and p-AlGaN with Al...

Simulations, Practical Limitations, and Novel Growth Technology for InGaN-Based Solar Cells

Indium gallium nitride (InGaN) alloys exhibit substantial potential for high-efficiency photovoltaics. However, theoretical promise still needs to be experimentally realized. This paper presents a detailed theoretical study to provide guidelines to achieve high-efficiency InGaN solar cells. While the efficiency of heterojunction devices is limited to ~11%, homojunction devices can achieve suitable efficiencies, provided that highly p-type-doped InGaN layers and thick, single-phase InGaN films can be grown. Thus, we have developed a novel growth technology that facilitates growth of p-type nitride films with greatly improved hole concentration and growth of InGaN without phase separation, offering promise for future high-efficiency InGaN solar cells.

Control of ion content and nitrogen species using a mixed chemistry plasma for GaN grown at extremely high growth rates >9 μm/h by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Utilizing a modified nitrogen plasma source, plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) has been used to achieve higher growth rates in GaN. A higher conductance aperture plate, combined with higher nitrogen flow and added pumping capacity, resulted in dramatically increased growth rates up to 8.4 μm/h using 34 sccm of N2 while still maintaining acceptably low operating pressure. It was further discovered that argon could be added to the plasma gas to enhance growth rates up to 9.8 μm/h, which was achieved using 20 sccm of N2 and 7.7 sccm Ar flows at 600 W radio frequency power, for which the standard deviation of thickness was just 2% over a full 2 in. diameter wafer. A remote Langmuir style probe employing the flux gauge was used to indirectly measure the relative ion content in the plasma. The use of argon dilution at low plasma pressures resulted in a dramatic reduction of the plasma ion current by more than half, while high plasma pressures suppressed ion content regardless of plasma gas chemistr...

Defect reduction in MBE-grown AlN by multicycle rapid thermal annealing

Multicycle rapid thermal annealing (MRTA) is shown to reduce the defect density of molecular beam epitaxially grown AlN films. No damage to the AlN surface occurred after performing the MRTA process at 1520°C. However, the individual grain structure was altered, with the emergence of step edges. This change in grain structure and diffusion of AlN resulted in an improvement in the crystalline structure. The Raman E2 linewidth decreased, confirming an improvement in crystal quality. The optical band edge of the AlN maintained the expected value of 6.2 eV throughout MRTA annealing, and the band edge sharpened after MRTA annealing at increased temperatures, providing further evidence of crystalline improvement. X-ray diffraction shows a substantial improvement in the (002) and (102) rocking curve FWHM for both the 1400 and 1520°C MRTA annealing conditions compared to the as-grown films, indicating that the screw and edge type dislocation densities decreased. Overall, the MRTA post-growth annealing of AlN lowers defect density, and thus will be a key step to improving optoelectronic and power electronic devices.

Structural and electrical characterization of InN, InGaN, and p-InGaN grown by metal-modulated epitaxy

InN, high indium content InGaN, and Mg-doped InGaN were grown by metal modulated epitaxy (MME). Transient reflection high-energy electron diffraction intensities were analyzed during the growth of InN and found to be similar to that previously reported for GaN and AlN. The x-ray diffraction rocking curve and background electron concentration of InN grown by MME were found to be respectable in comparison to recent reports in literature. InGaN alloys grown by MME were also investigated, and a method for detecting indium surface segregation was demonstrated. It was found that the shutter modulation scheme could be modified to prevent phase separation by indium surface segregation, and a range of single-phase InGaN samples with indium contents throughout the miscibility gap were grown. Using the discovered method of suppressing phase separation, several p-InxGa1 − xN samples were grown with indium contents from x = 0 to 0.22. A maximum hole concentration of 2.4 × 1019 cm−3 was detected by Hall effect characte...

Large-area III-nitride double-heterojunction solar cells with record-high in-content InGaN absorbing layers

This work investigates the MBE growth, material characterization, and performance testing of large-area InGaN/GaN double-heterojunction solar cells. Structures with varying thicknesses and compositions of the InGaN absorbing layer are studied. The N-rich MBE growth at low temperatures enables the growth of thick 10% and 20% InGaN films with minimal relaxation. While current leakage is an issue for these large-area devices as detected by I-V and concentration effect measurements, the double-heterojunction cell with a record-high In content of 22% shows a promising photovoltaic response.

Structural and Optical Properties of AlGaN MQWs Grown by MOCVD Using One and Two TMG Sources

Quantum wells are used to confine the electron-hole pairs and thus increase the quantum efficiency. However, the growth of a good-quality quantum well (QW) is challenging. Many factors such as choice of substrate, growth temperature, and number of sources affect the structure of the QWs. In this study, QWs are grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) at a temperature of 1155 C, with one and two trimethylgallium (TMG) sources. The differences between one and two TMG sources are schematically shown in Figure 1. In one TMG configuration, the growth conditions between a quantum well and a quantum barrier (QB) requires the TMG flow rate to be interrupted and changed. During this change, there is no Ga flowing onto the sample’s surface. In two TMG configuration, QW and QB are grown by two TMG sources with different flow rate. The active region growth switches between QW and QB without interruption. The aluminum content in the QWs and the QBs in both samples (using one and two TMG) are targeted to be 0.6 and 0.75, respectively. Their structures are studied by scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and the optical properties by cathodoluminescence (CL).