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III-Nitride/SiC heterostructure devices are a promising approach for improving the performance of SiC devices such as bipolar transistors and avalanche photodiodes. However, the performance of these devices should critically depend on the properties of the hetero-interface that will likely lie within an active region of the device and impact carrier transport. Importantly, intermixing at the hetero-interface can effect doping profiles in these structures as constituent atoms of each semiconductor act as a dopant in the other. In this paper we explore the impact of in situ substrate preparation and migration enhanced epitaxy (MEE) on the nucleation and impurity concentration of thin AlN films grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on 4H-SiC. The surface morphology of the samples were examined by atomic force microscopy and the composition of the films were studies by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and depth profiling x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The MEE approach promotes the nucleation of AlN growth on SiC in a 2D mode while suppressing the migration of Al into SiC. Active N that leaks around the closed shutter during in-situ preparation prevents the nucleation of AlN in a 2D growth mode at lower substrate temperatures that is attributed to GaN island formation at the hetero-interface.

A III-Nitride/ SiC separate absorption and multiplication avalanche photodiode (SAM-APD) offers a novel approach for fabricating high gain photodetectors with tunable absorption over a wide spectrum from the visible to deep ultraviolet. However, unlike conventional heterojunction SAM APDs, the formation of polarization-induced charge at the hetero-interface arising from spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization can dramatically affect the performance of this detector. In this paper we report on the role of this interface charge on the performance of GaN/SiC SAM APDs.

The use of optical gating by frequency downconversion to study UV optoelectronic devices provides information on carrier recombination dynamics with sub-picosecond resolution. Measurement of active LEDs undergoing current injection and measurement of stimulated emission from UV laser cavities is demonstrated.