Monochromatic cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging of metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) grown In0.1Ga0.9N single quantum wells (QW) has been performed in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). Spatially resolved fluctuations in the CL emission wavelength and intensity of the QW luminescence were recorded. The presence of regions with luminescent features asymmetrically distributed either side of the QW peak emission was inferred. These fluctuations may be attributed to, by for example, variations of ±0.01 in the In fraction of the In0.1Ga0.9N alloy, to changes of up to 0.6nm in the QW thickness. However these factors do not explain the gross fluctuations in QW emission intensity observed in TEM-CL on the scale of ∼1μm.

Delta doping (paused growth doping) was investigated as an alternative to uniformly distributing the dopant in the nitride semiconductor layer. In this work, delta doped layers were produced in MOVPE-grown AlGaN and GaN layers at a susceptor temperature of 1220°C by turning off the group III precursors (TMG and TMA) and introducing into the reactor a silicon precursor Si2H6 (disilane) for a fixed period (pause time) before growth was restarted. The compositional and electrical properties as a function of aluminum content and dopant flux were investigated for nitride layers on 2 inch c-plane sapphire substrates. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) measurements revealed a sharp silicon peak with a FWHM of 5.7 ± 0.6 nm for an Al0.25Ga0.75N sample and 10.0 ± 0.6 nm for a GaN sample with sheet charges of 7.9×1012 cm−2 and 9.9×1012 cm−2,respectively. Room temperature Hall mobility as high as 265 cm2 V−1s−1 for a sheet charge 7.9×1012 cm−2 was demonstrated for delta doped Al0.25Ga0.75N layers, but the mobility enhancement saturated and then decreased with increasing sheet charge. Room temperature sheet charge increased with increasing dopant flux for delta-doped AlGaN and GaN layers. Sheet charge density as high as 2.2×1013 cm−2 and 1.3×1013 cm−2 was measured at room temperature for Al0.25Ga0.75N and GaN delta doped layers, respectively. Under identical doping conditions, the Hall sheet charge of the delta doped Al0.25Ga0.75N layer was approximately half as large as GaN layers. The impurity and electrical characteristics of the delta doped layers are further discussed.

The majority of GaN films and related devices have been grown along the polar [0001] direction, and epitaxial growth along non-polar directions has received much less attention. In this paper we report the study of material properties of GaN and AlGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) deposited on R-plane (10–12) sapphire substrates using RF plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). In this growth direction, III-Nitrides grow along the non-polar [11–20] direction, with the c-axis in the plane of growth. Various nucleation steps such as surface nitridation, as well as GaN and AlN buffer layers were investigated. Our results indicate that surface nitridation of R-plane sapphire is an undesirable nucleation step, contrary to what has been observed in the case of (0001) sapphire. The AlN buffer layer leads to well-oriented films along the [11–20] direction with many threading defects and faceted surface morphology whereas the GaN buffer leads to the formation of mis-oriented domains close to the buffer region. However, these domains are overgrown and the films have smoother surface morphology with fewer threading defects. These structural findings are supported by photoluminescence and Hall effect measurements done on the same films. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements of (11–20) AlGaN/GaN MQWs show much higher intensity than for similar structures grown on the C-plane sapphire, consistent with the absence of internal fields in the non-polar direction.

Low electron energy cathodoluminescence (LEECL) was used to examine polishing-induced damage in a bulk high-pressure grown GaN single-crystal platelet. The Ga-polarity face of the platelet was mechanically polished; chemically-assisted ion-beam etching (CAIBE) to a depth of 200 nm was performed on a portion of this face. Low-temperature (15 K) CL spectra of the polished-only and polished+CAIBE regions of the Ga-face were taken at 2.8 kV, 5.4 kV, and 10.6 kV (corresponding to average electron penetration depths of 19 nm, 56 nm, and 170 nm). The low-temperature CL spectrum of the unpolished, N-polarity face was taken at 10.6 kV. In the near-band-edge region, all the CL spectra from the Ga-polarity face show a narrow peak near 3.47 eV, ascribed to donor-bound exciton recombination, and several overlapping peaks at lower energy (3.1 eV to 3.4 eV), ascribed to defect-related levels or to donor-acceptor pair recombination. Functional curve-fitting analysis enabled deconvolution of the spectra into the sum of an asymmetric peak (the donor-bound exciton) and several symmetric Gaussian peaks (the lower energy, defect-related or donor-acceptor peaks). The linewidth of the donor-bound exciton peak decreased with increasing penetration depth, and also decreased on going from the polished-only to the polished+CAIBE region. The relative intensity of a defect-related peak at ≈3.325 eV showed a similar decreasing trend with increasing penetration depth or with CAIBE treatment. The LEECL results suggest that the thickness of the polishing damage layer is approximately 400 nm; the 200 nm CAIBE step is thus insufficient to completely remove the damage.

We have deposited highly c-axis oriented GaN films on sapphire by the Cyclic Pulsed Laser Deposition Technique. Nitridation of the sapphire substrates for these samples was performed at 200 °C, 400 °C and 600 °C. For that purposed, we used a radio frequency nitrogen plasma during four hours. The films were compared in terms of crystal structure, surface morphology and optical quality. Although small, the biggest differences were detected in the surface morphology of the films. Additionally, a typical GaN sample nitridated at 200 °C was analysed by photoluminescence and showed the typical donor bound excitonic luminescence (D0X ) transition at 3.47 eV and a line near 3.42 eV. These lines show a FWHM of 20 meV and 30 meV at 13K, respectively.

Rare-earth doped GaN structures offer potential for optical devices emitting in the visible region [1,2]. We describe a study of MOVPE grown GaN-on-sapphire epilayers implanted with Europium ions, producing characteristic red emission lines between 540 and 680 nm due to intra-4f(n) electron transitions. As-implanted and subsequently annealed samples are investigated using a combination of wavelength dispersive x-ray analysis (WDX), electron microscopy, cathodoluminescence (CL) and photoluminescence (PL). WDX is shown to be a powerful technique for quantifying rare-earth concentrations in GaN, with varying electron beam voltages allowing a degree of depth profiling, further enhanced by the simultaneous collection of room temperature luminescence (CL) from the analysed region [3]. The intensities of the sharp lines observed in the luminescence spectrum are compared to the doping density (between 1014 – 1015 cm−2) and the Eu content measured by WDX, using a Eu-doped glass standard. Differences observed in the luminescence spectra produced by laser and electron beam excitation will be discussed along with the importance of the annealing conditions, which “heal” defects visible in the electron micrographs.

The thick films of GaN were investigated using X-ray diffraction, micro-Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The thick films of GaN were prepared on (0001) sapphire using high rate magnetron sputter epitaxy with growth rates as high as 10–60 m/min. The width of the X-ray rocking curve ((0002) reflection) for the sample produced by this method is ∼300 arc-sec. Only the allowed modes were observed in the polarized Raman spectra. The background electron concentration is lower than 3×1016 cm−3, which was determined from the Raman spectra. The phonon lifetime determined from Raman E2(2) mode was 1.6 ps, which is comparable to that of bulk single crystal GaN grown by sublimation (1.4 ps). The full-width-at-half-maximum of the near band-edge photoluminescence peak obtained at 77K is ∼100 meV.

Bulk AlN crystal growth by Physical Vapor Transport (PVT) is studied both experimentally and numerically. This paper presents the analysis of heat and mass transport mechanisms in closed and partially open crucible geometries. The heat transfer in the growth system used at North Carolina State University (NCSU) is simulated. The computed temperature profiles are used in the analysis of mass transport in the growth cell to gain understanding of the effect of species exchange between the crucible and environment on the AlN growth rate. The model predictions are in reasonable agreement with observations.

We have studied thermoelectric properties of III-nitrides of Al1-xInxN and III-oxynitrides of Al1-xInxOsNt and InOsNt prepared by radio-frequency sputtering with the aim of fabricating a thermoelectric power device based on III-nitride semiconductors. For Al0.55In0.45N, the maximum value of power factor was 3.63×10−4 W/mK2 at 873K. For Al0.02In0.98O1.14N0.49 and Al0.14In0.86O1.30N0.67, the maximum power factor was 2.82×10−4 W/mK2 and 4.73×10−4 W/mK2 at 873 K, respectively. For InO0.82N0.86, it was 3.75×10−4 W/mK2 at 973 K.

Using a first-principles method, we study the effect of pressure on the band gap energies of wurtzite InxGa1-xN, and InxAl1-xN. The fundamental band gap energies are direct and increase rapidly with pressure. The pressure coefficients vary in the range of 19.8–24.8 meV/GPa for InxGa1-xN, and 16.7–20.7 meV/GPa for InxAl1-xN; they depend on alloy composition with a strong deviation from linearity. The band gap bowing of the InGaN increases continuously with pressure while those of InAlN strongly decreases at p=14 GPa.

Synchrotron radiation excited soft x-ray emission and soft x-ray absorption spectroscopies are applied to the study of the electronic structure of InxGa1-xN alloys with (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.29). The elementally resolved partial density of states of the valence and conduction bands may be measured using these spectroscopies. The x-ray absorption spectra indicate that the conduction band broadens considerably with increasing indium incorporation. The band gap evolution as a function of indium content derives primarily from this broadening of the conduction band states. The emission spectra indicate that motion of the valence band makes a smaller contribution to the evolution of the band gap. This gap evolution differs from previous studies on the AlxGa1-xN alloy system, which observed a linear valence band shift through the series (0 < x < 1). Instead in the case of InxGa1-xN the valence band exhibits a significant shift between x = 0 and x = 0.1 with minimal movement thereafter. Furthermore, evidence of In 4d -N 2p and Ga 3d- N 2p hybridisation is reported. Finally, the thermal stability of an In011Ga089N film was investigated. Both emission and absorption spectra were found to have a temperature dependent shift in energy, but the overall definition of the spectra was unaltered even at annealing temperatures well beyond the growth temperature of the film.

Wide band gap semiconductors are attractive for developing high power switching devices because of their ability to operate at both higher temperatures as well as higher frequencies than conventional Si. In this paper we report on the growth and fabrication of GaN/SiC np heterojunction diodes by depositing Si doped n-GaN films by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy directly on SiC without the use of GaN or AlN buffers.

Careful ex-situ and in-situ preparation of the Si terminated 6H- SiC surface was necessary to produce high quality diodes. Vertical circular diodes were fabricated with sizes varying from 200 microns to 1mm in diameter. Mesas were formed by ICP etching of the MBE deposited n-GaN layer using Cl2. A Ti/Al/Ni/Au metal stack was employed as an n-ohmic contact to the GaN layer and an Al/Ti/Au metal stack was employed as a backside p-ohmic contact to the 6H- SiC layer. The diodes were characterized by I-V and C-V measurements. The 1 mm diameter diodes exhibited almost ideal behavior under forward bias with an ideality factor of 1.6, and a reverse saturation current of 10–19 A/cm2. Under reverse bias, these devices were driven up to 1000 V with a measured leakage current of 5×10–7 A. and a dynamic resistance varying from 1010 to 109 ohms with increasing reverse bias. The built-in potential in these n-p heterojunctions was determined from C-V measurements to be 2.25 V. From these values we determined that the heterojunction is of Type II with conduction and valence bands offsets calculated to be 0.65 and 1.1 eV respectively.

The density of vertical threading dislocations at the surface of GaN grown on sapphire by cantilever epitaxy has been reduced with two new approaches. First, narrow mesas (<1 μm wide) were used and {11–22} facets formed over them early in growth to redirect dislocations from vertical to horizontal. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy was used to demonstrate this redirection and to identify optimum growth and processing conditions. Second, a GaN nuc-leation layer with delayed 3D → 2D growth transition and inherently lower threading dislocation density was adapted to cantilever epitaxy. Several techniques show that a dislocation density of only 2–3×107/cm2 was achieved by combining these two approaches. We also suggest other developments of cantilever epitaxy for reducing dislocations in heteroepitaxial systems.

Gate current plays an important role in determining the characteristics and limiting performance of GaN-based field effect transistors. In GaN-based HFETs, the gate current limits the gate voltage swing and, hence, the maximum device current. Since the electron transport across the wide band gap barrier layer involves trapping, under certain bias conditions, the gate current leads to the threshold voltage shifts and causes reliability problems. Under reverse bias, the gate leakage in GaN-based HFET dominates the minimum (pinch-off) drain current. Insulating gate HFETs (i.e. Metal Oxide Heterostructure Field Effect Transistors – MOSHFETs) have the gate leakage currents 4 – 6 orders of magnitude lower than HFETs, even at elevated temperatures up to 300 °C. In this paper, we report on the gate current characteristics in these devices at room and elevated temperatures. We propose a semi-empirical model for the current-voltage characteristics in these devices, which is in good agreement with experimental data. Our data also show that both tunneling and temperature activation are important factors in MOSHFETs. These results are important for possible applications of GaN MOSHFETs in high power amplifiers and power switches as well as in non-volatile memory devices and integrated circuits that will operate in a much wider temperature range than conventional silicon and GaAs devices.

Using micro-Raman scattering and finite element (FE) analysis, stress fields in epitaxial lateral overgrown (ELO) GaN fabricated by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) on sapphire substrates using a two-step growth method were investigated. Nearly full stress relaxation at the top ELO GaN surface can be achieved by increasing the thickness of ELO GaN to about 50 μm. Reductions in stress variation between window and overgrown regions can be achieved by using a double ELO GaN growth at a much smaller ELO thickness. Increased compressive stress at the coalescence boundary of two adjacent wings of ELO GaN was related to the presence of voids in this area. In the double ELO growth, stress near the top surface was mainly attributed to the presence of voids on top of the upper dielectric mask.

Electroluminescence measurements of P-implanted GaN light-emitting diodes were performed. The measured peak densities of P in the GaN were 5×10 cm−3 and 4×10 cm−3 based on secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The EL spectra had a broad blue-band emission at the peak energy from around 2.8 eV to 3.3 eV and yellow-band emission at an energy centered at 2.2 eV. The blue-band emission could decompose into two components at energy positions of 2.9 eV and 3.2 eV. The former component is considered to be emission due to the recombination of the bounding exciton by P atoms, known as an isoelectronic trap in GaN.

Photoreflectance (PR) is used to detect and characterize the electronic effects etch-induced defects in GaN that is exposed to an Ar or Ar/Cl inductively coupled plasma (ICP). Because of the sensitivity of PR we can follow the formation of etch-induced defects as a function of ion energies and densities. We show that at low RF powers, below 100W, the surface improves in electronic quality, but as the power is increased beyond 200W, etch-induced defects, are formed. The use of an Ar/Cl mixture plays a critical role in control of etch-induced defects.

The tensile strain in AlGaN layers on GaN is well established to lead to cracking if a critical thickness is reached, unless measures such as interlayers are applied to prevent their formation. However in devices, such as HFETs such an approach is impractical. Growth of AlGaN-GaN structures was carried out by MOVPE using a standard two stage process for the growth of the GaN on sapphire. The crack structures were examined by optical and atomic force microscopy. Studies on thin AlGaN layers on GaN close to the crack critical thickness show the stress centres from which the cracks propagate are threading dislocations with cracks often initially forming to link together these stress centres if they are in close proximity. These cracks then extend and “lock” into the generally observed 〈2110〉 direction in more highly strained layers. A macroscopically uniform crack array is observed in these thin AlGaN samples.

We report an investigation of electronic properties of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) confined at AlGaN/GaN heterostructures by magnetotransport measurements. The second-subband population is manifested by the multi-frequency in the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations. The modulated patterns of SdH oscillations which are due to the two-subband occupancy can be drastically enhanced by employing the microwave modulation technique. This unique advantage enables us to provide direct experimental evidence that the 2DEG in the second subband has a higher mobility than that in the first subband in the modulation-doped Al0.22Ga0.78N/GaN heterostructures by means of microwave-modulated magnetotransport measurements. The carrier concentrations and 2DEG Fermi energy for each subband were determined. It was found that the second-subband population ratio increases with spacer thickness up to 5 nm, while the subband separation decreases.

AlN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) were grown on sapphire substrates by plasmaassisted molecular beam epitaxy. Growth temperature, III/V ratio, growth rate, and other growth parameters were optimized for the buffer layer and the MQWs, separately. The growth of AlN buffer was kept as Al-rich as possible while the formation of Al droplets was avoided. A GaN buffer layer was also tried but proved to be inferior to AlN buffer probably due to its larger surface roughness, higher dislocation density, and larger lattice mismatch with the AlN barrier layers in the MQWs. Very flat surfaces with a RMS roughness of 0.7nm were observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) on the samples with both AlN buffer layer and 20 MQWs deposited under the optimized growth conditions. Abrupt interfaces and excellent periodicities of the MQWs were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and reflectivity measurements with MQWs' satellite peaks clearly visible up to the 10th order. Room-temperature intense ultraviolet (UV) photoluminescence (PL) emission with wavelength in the range of 320–350nm was also observed from the MQWs with well width ranging from 1.0 to 1.5nm. These MQW structures can potentially be used for UV light emitters and quantum cascade lasers.