D. Yu. Protasov

Electrical properties and deep traps spectra of N-polar and Ga-polar AlGaN films grown by molecular beam epitaxy in a wide composition range

The polarity type, surface morphology, electrical properties, and deep trap spectra were studied for undoped AlxGa1−xN films (x=0–0.6) grown by molecular beam epitaxy on on-axis (0001) sapphire using composite buffers consisting of low temperature (LT) AlN nucleation layer, AlN, and AlN/AlGaN superlattice. It is shown that the films grow with N-polarity if the LT AlN layer is deposited under N-rich conditions and with Ga-polarity for the LT AlN layers deposited under Al-rich conditions. For both polarities the film morphology was acceptable for fabrication of typical GaN-based devices. It is demonstrated that the Ga-polar AlGaN films are heavily compensated p-type, with the dominant acceptors believed to be due to C. N-polar films are n type, with the residual donors pinning the Fermi level being most likely due to Si. N-polar films show a high concentration of deep electron traps.

Influence of the additional p+ doped layers on the properties of AlGaAs/InGaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures for high power SHF transistors

The peculiarities of a new type of pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures with the additional acceptor doping of barriers used for the creation of the power SHF pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) have been studied. A comparison of the transport characteristic of the new and typical pHEMT heterostructures was carried out. The influence of the doped acceptor impurities in the AlGaAs barriers of the new pHEMT heterostructure on the transport properties was studied. It was shown that the application of the additional p+ doped barrier layers allows the achievement of a double multiplex increase in the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) concentration in the InGaAs quantum well with no parasite parallel conductivity in the AlGaAs barrier layers. An estimation of the concentration of the doped donors and acceptors penetrating into the deliberately undoped InGaAs quantum well from the AlGaAs barriers was performed by second ion mass spectrometry and photoluminescence spectrometry methods. Taking into account the electron scattering by the ionized impurity atoms, calculation of the electron mobility in the InGaAs channel showed that some reduction of the electron mobility results from scattering by the ionized Si donor due to an increase in the Si concentration and, therefore, is not caused by the application of additional p+ doped layers in the construction of pHEMT heterostructures.

Electron scattering in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures with a two-dimensional electron gas

The temperature and concentration dependences of electron mobility in AlGaN/GaN hetero-structures are studied. The mobility for the samples under study at T = 300 K lies in the range of 450–1740 cm2/(V s). It is established that scattering at charged centers is dominant for samples with low mobility (lower than 1000 cm2/(V s) right up to room temperature. These centers are associated with a disordered piezoelectric charge at the heterointerface because of its roughness or with a piezoelectric charge similarly to the Al-GaN barrier because of alloy disorder, as well as with the deformation field around dislocations. Scattering at optical phonons is dominant for samples with mobility exceeding 1000 cm2/(V s) at T = 300 K. Scattering at alloy disorders, heterointerface roughness, and dislocations are dominant at temperatures lower than 200 K. A decrease in the influence of scattering at roughness with improvement of the heterointerface morphology increases room-temperature mobility from 1400 cm2/(V s) to 1700 cm2/(V s).

Mobility of minority charge carriers in p-HgCdTe films

Temperature dependences of electron mobility in p-Hg1−xCdxTe films (x=0.210–0.223) grown by molecular beam epitaxy are investigated. In the temperature range 125–300 K, mobility was found by the mobility-spectrum method, and for the range 77–125 K, it was found using a magnetophotoconductivity method suggested in this study. The method is based on the measurement of the magnetic-field dependence of photoconductivity. The magnetic field is parallel to the radiation and normal to the sample surface. The electron mobility is determined using the simple expression μn [m2/(V s)]=1/BH[T]. Here, BH is the induction of the magnetic field corresponding to a half-amplitude of the photoconductivity signal under zero magnetic field. In the temperature range 100–125 K, the results obtained by the magnetophotoconductivity and mobility-spectrum methods coincide. For the samples investigated, the electron mobility at 77 K is in the range 5–8 m2/(V s).

Tunneling transport through passivated CdS nanocrystal arrays grown by the Langmuir-Blodgett method

Tunneling electron transport through CdS nanocrystal arrays fabricated by the Langmuir-Blodgett method are studied by scanning electron spectroscopy. The effect of the matrix-annealing atmosphere on tunneling transport through the nanocrystal arrays is studied. Electron capture at traps in the case of nanocrystals annealed in vacuum is detected by tunneling current-voltage characteristics analyzed using a model relating the data of tunneling spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and quantum-mechanical calculation. Analysis shows that the nanocrystal surface is passivated by an ammonia monolayer upon annealing in an ammonia atmosphere. It is found that the substrate and surrounding non-passivated nanocrystals have an effect on the electron polarization energy.

Characterization of molecular beam epitaxy p-CdxHg1 − xTe layers using the photoconductive effect in crossed E→⊥B→ fields

Abstract The photoconductive effect in crossed E → ⊥ B → fields together with the conventional photo-Hall method and multicarrier analysis were used for the characterization of thin p-CdxHg1 − xTe layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The described techniques provided information about recombination parameters of the films: surface recombination velocities, bulk lifetime and diffusion length.

Increasing Saturated Electron-Drift Velocity in Donor–Acceptor Doped pHEMT Heterostructures

Field dependences of the electron-drift velocity in typical pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistor (pHEMT) heteroepitaxial structures (HESs) and in those with donor–acceptor doped (DApHEMT) heterostructures with quantum-well (QW) depth increased by 0.8–0.9 eV with the aid of acceptor layers have been studied by a pulsed technique. It is established that the saturated electron-drift velocity in DA-pHEMT-HESs is 1.2–1.3 times greater than that in the usual pHEMT-HESs. The electroluminescence (EL) spectra of DA-pHEMT-HESs do not contain emission bands related to the recombination in widebandgap layers (QW barriers). The EL intensity in these HESs is not saturated with increasing electric field. This is indicative of a suppressed real-space transfer of hot electrons from QW to barrier layers, which accounts for the observed increase in the saturated electron-drift velocity.

Mobility of the Two-Dimensional Electron Gas in DA-pHEMT Heterostructures with Various δ–n-Layer Profile Widths

The effect of the silicon-atom distribution profile in donor δ-layers of AlGaAs/InGaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures with donor–acceptor doping on the mobility of the two-dimensional electron gas is studied. The parameters of the δ-layer profiles are determined using the normal approximation of the spatial distributions of silicon atoms, measured by secondary-ion mass spectroscopy. It is shown that the standard deviation σ of the δ-layer profile can be reduced from 3.4 to 2.5 nm by the proper selection of growth conditions. Measurements of the magnetic-field dependences of the Hall effect and conductivity show that such a decrease in σ allowed an increase in the mobility of the two-dimensional electron gas in heterostructures by 4000 cm2/(V s) at 77 K and 600 cm2/(V s) at 300 K. The mobility calculation taking into account filling of the first two size-quantization subbands shows that an increase in the mobility is well explained by a reduction in the Coulomb scattering at ionized donors due to an increase in the effective thickness of the spacer layer with decreasing σ of the δ-layer profile.

MBE-grown AlGaN/GaN heterostructures for UV photodetectors

The MBE synthesis of AlGaN/GaN semiconductor heterostructures intended for UV photodetectors is considered. A technique for growing AlGaN layers and multilayered heterostructures is developed. It includes the nitridization of the sapphire substrate surface, the formation of a seed layer, and the growth of a buffer layer and undoped and doped AlGaN layers of different composition. The influence of growth conditions on the surface morphology, density of threading dislocations and other structural defects, and electrophysical and optical properties of individual AlGaN layers and respective heterostructures for UV photodetectors is investigated. The mathematical simulation of p-i-n photodiodes is made, and a process route for fabrication of AlGaN heterostructures is developed. Test AlGaN p-i-n photodiodes are prepared, and their performance is investigated.

Growth of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures with a two-dimensional electron gas on AlN/Al2O3 substrates

The possibility of using AlN/Al2O3 substrates to grow AlGaN/GaN hetero-epitaxial structures with a two-dimensional electron gas is studied. A method of calibrating the temperature of the substrates by measuring the thermal radiation spectrum is proposed. Differences between AlN/Al2O3 substrates that lead to differences in the electrophysical parameters of the grown structures are determined. AlN/Al2O3 substrates were used to grow AlGaN/GaN samples with a two-dimensional electron gas mobility in excess of 1300 cm2/(V · s) at an electron concentration in the channel higher than 1013 cm−2.