Effect of thin strain-compensated Al0.6Ga0.4P layers on the growth of multiple-stacked InP/In0.5Al0.3Ga0.2P quantum dots

Multiple-stacked InP self-assembled quantum dots (SAQD or QD) were grown on an In_0.5Al_0.3Ga_0.2P matrix lattice-matched on a GaAs (001) substrate using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Cathodoluminescence (CL) scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were employed to characterize the optical, morphological, and structural properties of the grown QDs. We found that the CL line width broadens and the surface becomes rough with an increase in the number of stacked QD layers in the structure. However, by introducing thin tensile-strained Al_0.6Ga_0.4P layers in the middle of In_0.5Al_0.3Ga_0.2P spacer layers to compensate the compressive strain of the InP QD layers, the CL and morphology are significantly improved. Using this technique, 30-stacked InP/In_0.5Al_0.3Ga_0.2P QD structures with improved CL properties and surface morphology were realized.     

Electrical and Optical Characterization of Ni/Al0.3Ga0.7N/GaN Schottky Barrier Diodes

Ni/AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes were characterized by electrical and optical measurements. Analysis of temperature-dependent (80?K to 550?K) current–voltage characteristics considering various transport mechanisms shows that the tunneling current dominates in the samples investigated. Thermionic emission current, extracted from the total current by a fitting procedure, yielded an effective barrier height of 1.36?eV to 1.39?eV at 300?K, and its slight decrease with increased temperature. This result shows that significantly lower barrier heights reported before (0.73?eV to 0.96?eV) follow from an assumption that the measured and thermionic currents are equal. The barrier height of 1.66?eV extracted from photoemission measurements confirms that electrically evaluated barrier heights are underestimated. The tunneling current contribution is considered to be dislocation governed, and a dislocation density of about 2?×?10⁸?cm^?2 is calculated.     

掺杂GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As超晶格的光致发光特性分析

在室温下,通过光致发光实验研究了用MBE生长的GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As超晶格材料的光致发光特性,对测得的发光峰进行了指认.理论计算和实验结果符合很好.     

InAs-based heterostructure barrier varactor diodes with In0.3Al0.7As0.4Sb0.6 as the barrier material

InAs-based heterostructure barrier varactor (HBV) diodes with In_0.3Al_0.7As_0.4Sb_0.6 as the barrier material are demonstrated. Current–voltage and capacitance–voltage characteristics, as well as S-parameters, of HBV diodes with varying barrier thicknesses are examined. Maximum capacitance values and maximum-to-minimum capacitance ratios greater than those predicted by traditional HBV models were measured. The HBVs’ unconventional behavior in terms of charge accumulation layers adjacent to the wide bandgap barrier is discussed.     

器件结构对Al0.3Ga0.7N Schottky探测器性能的影响

在利用金属有机化学气相沉积(MOCVD)方法生长的Al0.3Ga0.7N材料上制备了平面和台面结构的肖特基探测器.I-V和光谱响应测试结果表明:台面结构器件的反向漏电流大于平面结构器件的反向漏电流,它们的势垒高度分别为0.71 eV和0.90 eV,理想因子分别为1.12和1.02;峰值响应率分别为0.07 A/W和0.005 A/W,台面结构器件的响应光谱曲线在响应波段比较平坦,而平面结构器件的光谱响应是一条随着波长的减小而降低的曲线.这些现象可能主要是由于台面结构的欧姆接触电阻及串联电阻相对较小和离子束刻蚀对台面结构所带来的损伤所致.     

Characteristics of Si3N4/GaAs metal-lnsulator-semiconductor interfaces with coherent Si/Al0.3Ga0.7As interlayers

Si₃N₄/GaAs metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) interfaces with Si(10Å)/ Al_0.3Ga_0.7As (20Å) interface control layers have been characterized using capacitance-voltage (C-V) and conductance methods. The structure was in situ grown by a combination of molecular beam epitaxy and chemical vapor deposition. A density of interface states in the 1.1 × 10¹¹ eV^-1 cm^-2 range near the GaAs midgap as determined by the conductance loss has been attained with an ex situ solid phase annealing of 600°C in N₂ ambient. A dip quasi-static C-V demonstrating the inversion of the minority-carrier verifies the decent interface quality of GaAs MIS interface. The hysteresis and frequency dispersion of the MIS capacitors were lower than 100 mV, some of them as low as 50 mV under a field swing of about ±2 MV/cm. The increase of the conductance loss at higher frequencies was observed when employing the surface potential toward conduction band edge, suggesting the dominance of faster traps. Self-aligned gate depletion mode GaAs metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistors with Si/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As interlayers having 3 μm gate lengths exhibited a transconductance of about 114 mS/mm. The present article reports the first application of pseudomorphic Si/ Al_0.3Ga_0.7As interlayers to ideal GaAs MIS devices and demonstrates a favorable interface stability.     

Broadband microwave noise characteristics of high-linearity composite-channel Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/N/Al/sub 0.05/Ga/sub 0.95/N/GaN HEMTs

We report broadband microwave noise characteristics of a high-linearity composite-channel HEMT (CC-HEMT). Owing to the novel composite-channel design, the CC-HEMT exhibits high gain and high linearity such as an output third-order intercept point (OIP3) of 33.2 dBm at 2 GHz. The CC-HEMT also exhibits excellent microwave noise performance. For 1-/spl mu/m gate-length devices, a minimum noise figure (NF/sub min/) of 0.7 dB and an associated gain (G/sub a/) of 19 dB were observed at 1 GHz, and an (NF/sub mi/) of 3.3 dB and a G/sub a/ of 10.8 dB were observed at 10 GHz. The dependence of the noise characteristics on the physical design parameters, such as the gate-source and gate-drain spacing, is also presented.     

Photoluminescence studies of In0.7Al0.3As/In0.75Ga0.25As/In0.7Al0.3As metamorphic heterostructures on GaAs substrates

The influence of the design of the metamorphic buffer of In_0.7Al_0.3As/In_0.75Ga_0.25As metamorphic nanoheterostructures for high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) on their electrical parameters and photoluminescence properties is studied experimentally. The heterostructures are grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on GaAs (100) substrates with linear or step-graded In _x Al_{1 ? x} As metamorphic buffers. For the samples with a linear metamorphic buffer, strain-compensated superlattices or inverse steps are incorporated into the buffer. At photon energies ?ω in the range 0.6–0.8 eV, the photoluminescence spectra of all of the samples are identical and correspond to transitions from the first and second electron subbands to the heavy-hole band in the In_0.75Ga_0.25As/In_0.7Al_0.3As quantum well. It is found that the full width at half-maximum of the corresponding peak is proportional to the two-dimensional electron concentration and the luminescence intensity increases with increasing Hall mobility in the heterostructures. At photon energies ?ω in the range 0.8–1.3 eV corresponding to the recombination of charge carriers in the InAlAs barrier region, some features are observed in the photoluminescence spectra. These features are due to the difference between the indium profiles in the smoothing and lower barrier layers of the samples. In turn, the difference arises from the different designs of the metamorphic buffer.     

Quantum-confined stark effect and ultrafast absorption dynamics in bilayer inas quantum dot waveguide

A Stark shift of 40 nm at 1340 nm in a bilayer InAs/GaAs quantum dot ridge waveguide is reported. Time-resolved measurements indicate absorption recovery times of 7 ps at -8 V. Such favourable properties are desirable for intensity and phase modulators     

Hot-hole lateral transport in a two-dimensional GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As structure

A narrow peak at the leading edge of the current pulse was found in samples of p-GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As structures subjected to a high electric field. An analysis of the shape and height of the peak as a function of the electric field, as well as the field redistribution along the sample, allows us to conclude that domain instability exists under these conditions. It is also shown that the energy of holes heated in moderate electric fields can significantly exceed the optical phonon energy.     

Persistent photo-conductance and photoquenching of selectively doped Al0.3Ga0.7As GaAs/heterojunctions

The dependence on photon energy of the persistent photoconductivity (PPC) in selectively doped high mobility Al_0.3Ga_0.7As—GaAs heterostructures has been measured at temperatures below 80 K. A decrease in conductivity due to light exposure at one wavelength after exposure to light at another wavelength — photo-quenching — is also found. It is concluded that deep centers in GaAs and AlGaAs other than the DX center in AlGaAs are mainly responsible for PPC.     

InAs/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetector (QDIP) with double Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As blocking barriers

The ten stacked self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIP) with different Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As barrier widths and growth temperatures were prepared. Asymmetric current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and 2/spl sim/7.5 /spl mu/m detection window were observed. Peak responsivity of 84 mA/W at -0.4 V and peak specific detectivity of 2.5/spl times/10/sup 9/ cm-Hz/sup 1/2//W at zero bias were observed at 50 K. The characteristics of polarization insensitivity over the incident light and the high background photocurrent suggest that the self-assembled QDIP can be operated at higher temperature (/spl sim/250 K) under normal incidence condition in contrast to quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP).     

Optimized breakdown probabilities in Al/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As-GaAs heterojunction avalanche photodiodes

Recently, it has been shown that the noise characteristics of heterojunction Al/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As-GaAs avalanche photodiodes (APDs) can be optimized by proper selection of the width of the Al/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As layer. Similar trends have also been shown theoretically for the bandwidth characteristics. The resulting noise reduction and potential bandwidth enhancement have been attributed to the fact that the high bandgap Al/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As layer serves to energize the injected electrons, thereby minimizing their first dead space in the GaAs layer. We show theoretically that the same optimized structures yield optimal breakdown-probability characteristics when the APD is operated in Geiger mode. The steep breakdown-probability characteristics, as a function of the excess bias, of thick multiplication regions (e.g., in a 1000-nm GaAs homojunction) can be mimicked in much thinner optimized Al/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As-GaAs APDs (e.g., in a 40-nm Al/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As and 200-nm GaAs structure) with the added advantage of having a reduced breakdown voltage (e.g., from 36.5 V to 13.7 V).     

Optimization of the In0.3Ga0.7As-Layer Thickness in a Triple-Junction In0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs/In0.5Ga0.5P Solar Cell

Semiconductors - The optimum absorbing-layer thickness in the bottom In0.3Ga0.7As subcell of a triple-junction In0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs/In0.5Ga0.5P solar cell is sought for using the Sentaurus TCAD...     

Optimal excess noise reduction in thin heterojunction Al/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As-GaAs avalanche photodiodes

It has been recently found that the initial-energy effect, which is associated with the finite initial energy of carriers entering the multiplication region of an avalanche photodiode (APD), can be tailored to reduce the excess noise well beyond the previously known limits for thin APDs. However, the control of the initial energy of injected carriers can be difficult in practice for an APD with a single multiplication layer. In this paper, the dead-space multiplication recurrence theory is used to show that the low noise characteristics associated with the initial-energy effect can be achieved by utilizing a two-layer multiplication region. As an example, a high bandgap Al/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As material, termed the energy-buildup layer, is used to elevate the energy of injected carriers without incurring significant multiplication events, while a second GaAs layer with a lower bandgap energy is used as the primary carrier multiplication layer. Computations show that devices can be optimally designed through judicious choice of the charge-layer width to produce excess noise factor levels that are comparable to those corresponding to homojunction APDs benefiting from a maximal initial-energy effect. A structure is presented to achieve precisely that.     

On the radiative recombination and tunneling of charge carriers in SiGe/Si heterostructures with double quantum wells

For SiGe/Si(001) epitaxial structures with two nonequivalent SiGe quantum wells separated by a thin Si barrier, the spectral and time characteristics of interband photoluminescence corresponding to the radiative recombination of excitons in quantum wells are studied. For a series of structures with two SiGe quantum wells different in width, the characteristic time of tunneling of charge carriers (holes) from the narrow quantum well, distinguished by a higher exciton recombination energy, to the wide quantum well is determined as a function of the Si barrier thickness. It is shown that the time of tunneling of holes between the Si_0.85Ge_0.15 layers with thicknesses of 3 and 9 nm steadily decreases from ~500 to <5 ns, as the Si barrier thickness is reduced from 16 to 8 nm. At intermediate Si barrier thicknesses, an increase in the photoluminescence signal from the wide quantum well is observed, with a characteristic time of the same order of magnitude as the luminescence decay time of the narrow quantum well. This supports the observation of the effect of the tunneling of holes from the narrow to the wide quantum well. A strong dependence of the tunneling time of holes on the Ge content in the SiGe layers at the same thickness of the Si barrier between quantum wells is observed, which is attributed to an increase in the effective Si barrier height.     

Dislocation scattering in n-type modulation dopedAl0.3Ga0.7As/InxGa1-xAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As quantum wells

The mobility due to misfit dislocation scattering in n-type modulation doped Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/In_xGa_1-xAs/Al _0.3Ga_0.7As quantum wells is discussed. Initially, the dislocations are modeled as an array of orthogonal charged lines. The scattering potential is introduced, including both the coulombic and piezoelectric components. The expression for the mobility limited by dislocation scattering is established, and the anisotropic characteristics of mobility and its variation with various material and device parameters are presented and discussed     

Polarization-resolved photoluminescence piezospectroscopy of GaAs/Al0.35Ga0.65As:Be quantum wells

The photoluminescence (PL) of GaAs/Al_0.35Ga_0.65As:Be quantum wells is studied at temperatures of 77 and 300 K under conditions of uniaxial compression along the [110] direction. There are two main lines in the PL spectra; at zero pressure and T = 77 K, the peaks appear at 1.517 and 1.532 eV. Comparison of the pressure dependences of the peak positions and the polarization of the PL measured experimentally with those calculated theoretically gives evidence that, at T ≥ 77 K, these bands originate from the recombination of free electrons with heavy and light holes in the GaAs valence band.     

Hydrogen plasma passivation of bulk GaAs and Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs multiple-quantum-well structures on Si substrates

Hydrogen (H) plasma passivation effects on GaAs grown on Si substrates (GaAs on Si) are investigated in detail. H plasma exposure effectively passivates both the shallow and deep defects in GaAs on Si, which improves both the electrical and optical properties. It was found that the minority carrier lifetime is increased and the deep level concentration is decreased by the H plasma exposure. In addition, after H plasma exposure, room temperature photoluminescence (PL) for Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/GaAs multiple-quantum-well (MQW) on Si is enhanced with a decrease in the spectral width.     

Special features of recombination of nonequilibrium charge carriers in porous silicon with different nanostructure morphologies

Photoluminescence of porous silicon with different nanostructure morphologies and silicon monocrystalline wafers used as substrates was studied comparatively. The photoluminescence intensity of mesoporous and nanoporous silicon was established to be related to the excitation intensity by the quadratic and linear dependences, respectively. A model of recombination processes in the semiconductor nanocrystal systems is suggested. The experimental results are in good agreement with the model predictions.