We present the science and technology roadmap for graphene, related two-dimensional crystals, and hybrid systems, targeting an evolution in technology, that might lead to impacts and benefits reaching into most areas of society. This roadmap was developed within the framework of the European Graphene Flagship and outlines the main targets and research areas as best understood at the start of this ambitious project. We provide an overview of the key aspects of graphene and related materials (GRMs), ranging from fundamental research challenges to a variety of applications in a large number of sectors, highlighting the steps necessary to take GRMs from a state of raw potential to a point where they might revolutionize multiple industries. We also define an extensive list of acronyms in an effort to standardize the nomenclature in this emerging field.

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Science and technology roadmap for graphene, related two-dimensional crystals, and hybrid systems

The role of extended and point defects, and key impurities such as C, O, and H, on the electrical and optical properties of GaN is reviewed. Recent progress in the development of high reliability contacts, thermal processing, dry and wet etching techniques, implantation doping and isolation, and gate insulator technology is detailed. Finally, the performance of GaN-based electronic and photonic devices such as field effect transistors, UV detectors, laser diodes, and light-emitting diodes is covered, along with the influence of process-induced or grown-in defects and impurities on the device physics.

Gan : processing, defects, and devices

Two dimensional electron gases in Al x Ga 12x N/GaN based heterostructures, suitable for high electron mobility transistors, are induced by strong polarization effects. The sheet carrier concentration and the confinement of the two dimensional electron gases located close to the AlGaN/GaN interface are sensitive to a large number of different physical properties such as polarity, alloy composition, strain, thickness, and doping of the AlGaN barrier. We have investigated these physical properties for undoped and silicon doped transistor structures by a combination of high resolution x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, Hall effect, and capacitance‐voltage profiling measurements. The polarization induced sheet charge bound at the AlGaN/GaN interfaces was calculated from different sets of piezoelectric constants available in the literature. The sheet carrier concentration induced by polarization charges was determined

Two dimensional electron gases induced by spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization in undoped and doped AlGaN/GaN heterostructures

The optical properties of wurtzite-structured InN grown on sapphire substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy have been characterized by optical absorption, photoluminescence, and photomodulated reflectance techniques. These three characterization techniques show an energy gap for InN between 0.7 and 0.8 eV, much lower than the commonly accepted value of 1.9 eV. The photoluminescence peak energy is found to be sensitive to the free-electron concentration of the sample. The peak energy exhibits very weak hydrostatic pressure dependence, and a small, anomalous blueshift with increasing temperature.

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Unusual properties of the fundamental band gap of InN

We elucidate the atomic and electronic structure of graphene oxide (GO) using annular dark field imaging of single and multilayer sheets and electron energy loss spectroscopy for measuring the fine structure of C and O K-edges in a scanning transmission electron microscope. Partial density of states and electronic plasma excitations are also measured for these GO sheets showing unusual π* + σ* excitation at 19 eV. The results of this detailed analysis reveal that the GO is rough with an average surface roughness of 0.6 nm and the structure is predominantly amorphous due to distortions from sp3 C−O bonds. Around 40% sp3 bonding was found to be present in these sheets with measured O/C ratio of 1:5. These sp2 to sp3 bond modifications due to oxidation are also supported by ab initio calculations.

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Atomic and Electronic Structure of Graphene-Oxide

Transient electron transport and velocity overshoot in wurtzite GaN, InN, and AlN are examined and compared with that which occurs in GaAs. For all materials, we find that electron velocity overshoot only occurs when the electric field is increased to a value above a certain critical field, unique to each material. This critical field is strongly dependent on the material, about 4 kV/cm for the case of GaAs but much higher for the III–nitride semiconductors: 140 kV/cm for GaN, 65 kV/cm for InN, and 450 kV/cm for AlN. We find that InN exhibits the highest peak overshoot velocity and that this velocity overshoot lasts over the longest distances when compared with GaN and AlN. Finally, using a one-dimensional energy–momentum balance approach, a simple model is used to estimate the cutoff frequency performance of nitride based heterojunction field effect transistors (HFETs) and a comparison is made to recently fabricated AlGaN/GaN HFETs.

Transient electron transport in wurtzite GaN, InN, and AlN

We present the velocity-field characteristics of wurtzite indium nitride, determined using an ensemble Monte Carlo approach. It is found that indium nitride exhibits an extremely high peak drift velocity at room temperature, 4.3×107 cm/s, at a doping concentration of 1.0×1017 cm−3. We also demonstrate that the saturation drift velocity of indium nitride, 2.5×107 cm/s, is comparable to that of gallium nitride, and much larger than that of gallium arsenide. Our results suggest that the transport characteristics of indium nitride are superior to those of gallium nitride and gallium arsenide, over a wide range of temperatures, from 150 to 500 K, and doping concentrations, up to 1.0×1019 cm−3. Hence, indium nitride has considerable potential for device applications.

Electron transport in wurtzite indium nitride

A series of thin InN films down to 10 nm in thickness were prepared by molecular-beam epitaxy on either AlN or GaN buffers under optimized growth conditions. By extrapolating the fitted curve of sheet carrier density versus film thickness to zero film thickness, a strong excess sheet charge was derived, which must come from either the surface or the interface between InN and its buffer layer. Since metal contacts, including Ti, Al, Ni, and a Hg probe, can always form an ohmic contact on InN without any annealing, it is determined that at least part of the excess charge is surface charge, which was also confirmed by capacitance–voltage measurements.

Surface charge accumulation of InN films grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

The effect of an AlN buffer layer on the epitaxial growth of InN by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) is studied. Using an AlN buffer layer can significantly improve the structural and electrical properties of InN. With increasing thickness of the AlN buffer layer, the Hall mobility of InN will monotonically increase while the electron carrier concentration decreases. The surface morphology of the film also improves. A Hall mobility of more than 800 cm2/V s with a carrier concentration of 2–3×1018 cm−3 at room temperature can be routinely obtained on ∼0.1 μm InN film. More importantly, it is found that under optimum growth conditions, by using an AlN buffer layer, InN films with comparable quality can be achieved by the conventional MBE technique compared to InN grown by migration-enhanced epitaxy. Increasing InN thickness also increases Hall mobility.

Effect of an AlN buffer layer on the epitaxial growth of InN by molecular-beam epitaxy

Epitaxial growth of InN on (0001) sapphire with an AlN buffer layer was studied by migration-enhanced epitaxy, which is composed of an alternative supply of pure In atoms and N2 plasma. A series of samples were prepared with different substrate temperatures ranging from 360 to 590 °C. As-grown films were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), reflective high-energy electron diffraction, atomic-force microscopy (AFM), and Hall measurements. Both XRD θ–2θ and ω scans show that the full width at half maximum of the (0002) peak nearly continuously decrease with increasing growth temperature, while InN grown at 590 °C shows the poorest surface morphology from AFM. It is suggested that three-dimensional characterization is necessary for an accurate evaluation of the quality of the InN epilayer. Hall mobility as high as 542 cm2/V s was achieved on film grown at ∼500 °C with an electron concentration of 3×1018 cm−3 at room temperature. These results argue against the common view that nitrogen vacancies are res...

Lester F. Eastman

Papers

Transient electron transport in wurtzite GaN, InN, and AlN

Electron transport in wurtzite indium nitride

Surface charge accumulation of InN films grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

Effect of an AlN buffer layer on the epitaxial growth of InN by molecular-beam epitaxy

Improvement on epitaxial grown of InN by migration enhanced epitaxy