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Mg-doped, graded AlGaN films showed the formation of an impurity band and high, temperature-invariant p-conductivity even for doping levels well below the Mott transition. However, compensating point defects disrupted the impurity band, resulting in an Anderson transition from the impurity band to valence band conduction and a more than tenfold reduction in room-temperature conductivity. This is the first demonstration of Anderson-like localization in AlGaN films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High room temperature n-type mobility, exceeding 300 cm2/Vs, was demonstrated in Si-doped AlN. Dislocations and CN−1 were identified as the main compensators for AlN grown on sapphire and AlN single crystalline substrates, respectively, limiting the lower doping limit and mobility. Once the dislocation density was reduced by the growth on AlN wafers, C-related compensation could be reduced by controlling the process supersaturation and Fermi level during growth. While the growth on sapphire substrates supported only high doping ([Si] > 5 × 1018 cm−3) and low mobility (∼20 cm2/Vs), growth on AlN with proper compensation management enabled controlled doping at two orders of magnitude lower dopant concentrations. This work is of crucial technological importance because it enables the growth of drift layers for AlN-based power devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ge doping in AlGaN was studied over a wide dopant concentration range. For high Ge concentrations, the formation of VIII–nGeIII was determined to be the main point defect limiting the conductivity. It was shown that the complex formation could be suppressed by controlling chemical potentials during growth, leading to a higher maximum achievable carrier concentration and selective stabilization of a certain complex type. Chemical potential of the growth species was varied by changing the V/III ratio and growth temperature. Free carrier concentrations as high as 4 × 1019 cm−3 were achieved in Al0.4Ga0.6N:Ge grown on sapphire substrates under "metal-rich" conditions. The ability to control the onset of self-compensation and to stabilize a certain charge state of the compensating defect is of great technological importance for application of AlGaN in various devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to the arsenides where donors undergo stable DX transition, we find that Ge in AlGaN does not suffer from the DX transition; instead, it undergoes a shallow donor (30 meV) to deep donor (150 meV) transition at ∼50% Al content in the alloy. This finding is of profound technological importance as it removes fundamental doping limitations in AlGaN and AlN imposed by the presumed DX−1 acceptor state. The charge state of Ge below and above the transition was determined by co-doping with Si, which remains a shallow donor in AlGaN for up to 80% Al. It was found that Ge occupied a donor state with a (0/+) thermodynamic transition for AlGaN alloys below and above the transition. Ge as a shallow donor was completely ionized at room temperature; however, the ionization of the deep donor required elevated temperatures, commensurate with its higher ionization energy. This behavior is not unique to Ge; preliminary findings show that Si and O in AlGaN may behave similarly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Properties of AlN/GaN surfaces are important for realizing the tunability of devices, as the presence of surface states contributes to Fermi level pinning. This pinning can influence the performance of high electron mobility transistors and is also important for passivation of the surface when developing high-power electronic devices. It is widely understood that both AlN and GaN surfaces oxidize. Since there are many possible reconstructions for each surface, it is a challenge to identify the relevant surface reconstructions in advance of a detailed simulation. Because of this, different approaches are often employed to down select initial structures to reduce the computational load. These approaches usually rely on either electron counting rules or oxide stoichiometry, as both of these models tend to lead to structures that are energetically favorable. Here we explore models from these approaches but also explore a reconstruction of the (0001) surface directly observed using scanning transmission electron microscopy with predictive density functional theory simulations. Two compositions of the observed surface reconstruction—one which obeys oxide stoichiometry and one which is cation deficient and obeys electron counting—are compared to reconstructions from the previous work. Furthermore, surface states are directly calculated using hybrid exchange-correlation functionals that correct for the underestimation of the bandgaps in AlN and GaN and improve the predicted positions of surface states within the gap. It is found that cation deficiency in the observed reconstruction yields surface states consistent with the experiment. Based on all of these results, we provide insight into the observed properties of oxidized AlGaN surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we investigate the effect of different chemical treatments, such as solvents, bases, and acids, on the surface properties and electrical behavior of Schottky diodes fabricated on metalorganic chemical vapor deposition-grown, n-type, N-polar GaN. The I–V and C–V barrier heights of the as-grown Schottky diodes are found to be 0.40 eV and 0.60 eV, respectively, with an ideality factor n = 1.07. It is found that the solvent treatments neither change the surface nor the electrical performance of the Schottky diodes, as expected. However, the treatments by the alkaline photolithography developer and acid—the latter of which is often used to clean the surface of Ga-polar GaN films prior to metal contact deposition—degrade the performance of N-polar GaN. These base and acid treatments severely roughen the surface by creating triangular/hexagonal crystallographic facets. The I–V and C–V barrier heights of these base- and acid-treated diodes are increased to 0.63 eV and 1.00 eV, respectively, with ideality factor values n < 1.2. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies indicate that base- and acid-treated surfaces have lower oxygen content as compared to the as-grown sample surface. It is understood that the increment in the barrier height for base- and acid-treated diodes could be due to the change in polarity, from N-polar to semi-polar/non-polar, on these crystallographic features. All these results demonstrate that, unlike for Ga-polar GaN, the N-polar GaN surface is highly reactive to bases and acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the experimental dislocation annihilation rates, vacancy core diffusion-controlled dislocation climb was found as a dominant recovery mechanism in high temperature annealing of AlN heteroepitaxial films. Dislocation annihilation mechanisms via dislocation glide (with or without kinks) and vacancy bulk diffusion were found to be less significant. Cross-slip was also ruled out as a possible mechanism as a majority of dislocations in heteroepitaxial AlN films are threading edge dislocations. While dislocation climb through both vacancy bulk and core diffusion could offer a plausible explanation of the recovery process, the activation energy for the vacancy core diffusion-controlled dislocation climb was relatively low (4.3 ± 0.1 eV), as estimated from an Arrhenius plot. The validity of the vacancy core diffusion mechanism was also supported by a large vacancy mean free path (∼240 nm), which was comparable to the sample thickness and thus the average dislocation length. Finally, the experimentally observed dislocation density reduction as a function of the annealing temperature and time was in good agreement with the vacancy core diffusion mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduction in compensation in Si-doped Al-rich AlGaN is demonstrated via chemical potential control (CPC). The chemical potentials and the resulting formation energies of carbon on the nitrogen site (CN) and cation vacancy complex with Si (VIII + nSiIII) were related to growth variables through a thermodynamic supersaturation model, which quantitatively predicted the incorporation of CN and the generation of the VIII + nSiIII complex. The compensation "knee" behavior, i.e., decreasing conductivity with increasing Si incorporation beyond a certain concentration, was successfully controlled. The maximum free carrier concentration was improved by impeding the formation of VIII + nSiIII complexes under III-richer conditions, while the impurity compensation by CN was reduced by making the growth environment N-richer. The results of Hall effect measurement and photoluminescence agreed well with quantitative theoretical predictions of the CPC model. Based on the developed model, the highest conductivity of 160 Ω−1 cm−1 with free carrier concentration of 3 × 1019 cm−3 in Al0.7Ga0.3N ever reported was achieved on single crystal AlN substrates. The demonstrated predictive power of the CPC model should greatly reduce the empirical analysis or iterative experimentation that would otherwise be necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of the polarization field on the emission properties of the AlGaN-based quantum structures grown on AlN substrates was investigated as a function of well width, barrier width, and barrier height. A thin AlGaN well and a thin AlN barrier design reduced the polarization field to ∼0.5 MV/cm, resulting in an ultralow laser threshold of 3 kW/cm2 in an optically pumped configuration. These experimental results were used to validate the simulation. In the next step, a structure with Al0.7Ga0.3N barriers was designed to support carrier injection with a minimal loss in optical performance. This structure showed a threshold of 7 kW/cm2 under optical pumping and an estimated threshold current of 8 kA/cm2 for the electric injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive energy map as a function of AlGaN composition over the whole alloy range is presented for commonly observed point defects in nominally intrinsic, n‐, and p‐doped material. The map covers intentional and unintentional impurities (CN, MgIII), vacancies (VIII, VN), passivating complexes (H), and self‐compensating complexes. The tracking of these defects is crucial to understand their impact on optical and electrical properties as well as for their mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of monolayer MoS2 crystals on chemomechanically polished (CMP) N-polar GaN using PTAS-assisted chemical vapor deposition is demonstrated. The formation of monolayer MoS2 was initially prevented by the as-grown GaN's large surface roughness. CMP reduces the roughness to 250 pm, enabling monolayer MoS2 triangles with edge lengths of 30 μm, a Raman peak separation of <20 cm–1, and an optical bandgap of 1.81 eV, which is on par with those obtained on smooth Ga-polar GaN. It is thus demonstrated that high-quality MoS2 monolayers can be obtained on N-polar GaN for future high-speed optoelectronic and quantum sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent successful integration of semiconductors into spintronic THz emitters has demonstrated a new pathway of control over terahertz (THz) radiation through ultrafast demagnetization dynamics. Here, the spintronic THz emission from different ultrawide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors interfaced with ferromagnets is studied. The authors show that the Schottky barrier in the UWBG semiconductor AlN acts as a spin filter that increases the polarization of the spin current injected from the ferromagnet. Furthermore, the authors show that the two‐dimensional electron gas at the interface between Al0.25Ga0.75N and GaN enhances the magnitude of the emitted radiation due to the high spin‐to‐charge conversion efficiency induced by the Rashba effect that results in a hallmark asymmetry in emission amplitude. The results provide a framework for future engineering of semiconducting/ferromagnet heterostructures for ultrafast communications technologies beyond 5G. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thermodynamic supersaturation model for growth of AlGaN by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition was developed for experimentally accessible growth parameters. The derived non-linear relationships enabled us to estimate Ga and Al supersaturation during AlGaN growth for given growth conditions. Calculations revealed that the GaN phase was close to chemical equilibrium, while the Al supersaturation was as high as 1010 for typical growth conditions. Such a disparity in the supersaturation of reaction species plays a significant role in the stability of the growth of the resulting ternary alloy. The agreement between experiment and simulation suggests that the parasitic gas phase reactions between trimethylaluminum and NH3 were not significant at low NH3 flow rates/partial pressures, indicating that, under these conditions, the AlGaN growth was thermodynamically limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal conductivity of GaN crystals grown by different techniques is analyzed using the 3ω method in the temperature range of 30 K to 295 K. GaN wafers grown by the ammonothermal method show a significant variation in thermal conductivity at room temperature with values ranging between 164 W m−1 K−1 and 196 W m−1 K−1. GaN crystals produced with the sodium flux and hydride vapor phase epitaxy methods show results of 211 W m−1 K−1 and 224 W m−1 K−1, respectively, at room temperature. Analysis using secondary ion mass spectrometry indicates varying amounts of impurities between the respective crystals and explains the behavior of thermal conductivity trends in the samples. The observed difference between thermal conductivity curves suggests that scattering of phonons at point defects dominates the thermal conductivity of GaN within the investigated temperature range. Deviations of model curves from thermal conductivity measurements and disparities between modelled characteristic lengths and actual sample thicknesses indicate that phonon resonances are active in GaN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The average bulk thermal conductivity of free-standing physical vapor transport and hydride vapor phase epitaxy single crystal AlN samples with different impurity concentrations is analyzed using the 3ω method in the temperature range of 30–325 K. AlN wafers grown by physical vapor transport show significant variation in thermal conductivity at room temperature with values ranging between 268 W/m K and 339 W/m K. AlN crystals grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy yield values between 298 W/m K and 341 W/m K at room temperature, suggesting that the same fundamental mechanisms limit the thermal conductivity of AlN grown by both techniques. All samples in this work show phonon resonance behavior resulting from incorporated point defects. Samples shown by optical analysis to contain carbon-silicon complexes exhibit higher thermal conductivity above 100 K. Phonon scattering by point defects is determined to be the main limiting factor for thermal conductivity of AlN within the investigated temperature range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we measure DC and AC conductivity and Hall voltage to determine the origin of electrical insulating properties of Fe-doped β-Ga2O3 single crystals, which are measured perpendicular to the 2 ¯ 01 crystallographic plane. We find that electrical conduction is predominantly controlled by free electrons in the temperature range 230–800 °C with the mutual compensation of the impurity donor (Si) and acceptor dopant (Fe), explaining the low concentration of free electrons and Fermi level pinning over a wide range of temperatures. Furthermore, the negative temperature-dependence of the carrier mobility indicates that it is limited by optical phonon scattering. Importantly, we find electrical conductivity to be largely independent of oxygen partial pressure (pO2) from air to 10−4 atm at 600 °C, but it becomes slightly dependent on pO2 at 800 °C, as intrinsic non-stoichiometric point defects begin to influence the charge balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultra-wide bandgap of Al-rich AlGaN is expected to support a significantly larger breakdown field compared to GaN, but the reported performance thus far has been limited by the use of foreign substrates. In this Letter, the material and electrical properties of Al0.85Ga0.15N/Al0.6Ga0.4N high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) grown on a 2-in. single crystal AlN substrate are investigated, and it is demonstrated that native AlN substrates unlock the potential for Al-rich AlGaN to sustain large fields in such devices. We further study how Ohmic contacts made directly to a Si-doped channel layer reduce the knee voltage and increase the output current density. High-quality AlGaN growth is confirmed via scanning transmission electron microscopy, which also reveals the absence of metal penetration at the Ohmic contact interface and is in contrast to established GaN HEMT technology. Two-terminal mesa breakdown characteristics with 1.3 μm separation possess a record-high breakdown field strength of ∼11.5 MV/cm for an undoped Al0.6Ga0.4N-channel layer. The breakdown voltages for three-terminal devices measured with gate-drain distances of 4 and 9 μm are 850 and 1500 V, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]