Gallium nitride (GaN) and its allied binaries InN and AIN as well as their ternary compounds have gained an unprecedented attention due to their wide-ranging applications encompassing green, blue, violet, and ultraviolet (UV) emitters and detectors (in photon ranges inaccessible by other semiconductors) and high-power amplifiers. However, even the best of the three binaries, GaN, contains many structural and point defects caused to a large extent by lattice and stacking mismatch with substrates. These defects notably affect the electrical and optical properties of the host material and can seriously degrade the performance and reliability of devices made based on these nitride semiconductors. Even though GaN broke the long-standing paradigm that high density of dislocations precludes acceptable device performance, point defects have taken the center stage as they exacerbate efforts to increase the efficiency of emitters, increase laser operation lifetime, and lead to anomalies in electronic devices. The p...

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Luminescence properties of defects in GaN

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

Recent research results pertaining to InN, GaN and AlN are reviewed, focusing on the different growth techniques of Group III-nitride crystals and epitaxial films, heterostructures and devices. The chemical and thermal stability of epitaxial nitride films is discussed in relation to the problems of deposition processes and the advantages for applications in high-power and high-temperature devices. The development of growth methods like metalorganic chemical vapour deposition and plasma-induced molecular beam epitaxy has resulted in remarkable improvements in the structural, optical and electrical properties. New developments in precursor chemistry, plasma-based nitrogen sources, substrates, the growth of nucleation layers and selective growth are covered. Deposition conditions and methods used to grow alloys for optical bandgap and lattice engineering are introduced. The review is concluded with a description of recent Group III-nitride semiconductor devices such as bright blue and white light-emitting diodes, the first blue-emitting laser, high-power transistors, and a discussion of further applications in surface acoustic wave devices and sensors.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/31/20/001/pdf

Growth and applications of Group III-nitrides

Organic-inorganic perovskites are a class of solution-processed semiconductors holding promise for the realization of low-cost efficient solar cells and on-chip lasers. Despite the recent attention they have attracted, fundamental aspects of the photophysics underlying device operation still remain elusive. Here we use photoluminescence and transmission spectroscopy to show that photoexcitations give rise to a conducting plasma of unbound but Coulomb-correlated electron-hole pairs at all excitations of interest for light-energy conversion and stimulated optical amplification. The conductive nature of the photoexcited plasma has crucial consequences for perovskite-based devices: in solar cells, it ensures efficient charge separation and ambipolar transport while, concerning lasing, it provides a low threshold for light amplification and justifies a favourable outlook for the demonstration of an electrically driven laser. We find a significant trap density, whose cross-section for carrier capture is however low, yielding a minor impact on device performance.

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Correlated electron–hole plasma in organometal perovskites

GaN and related materials (especially AlGaN) have recently attracted a lot of interest for applications in high power electronics capable of operation at elevated temperatures. Although the growth and processing technology for SiC, the other viable wide bandgap semiconductor material, is more mature, the AlGaInN system offers numerous advantages. These include wider bandgaps, good transport properties, the availability of heterostructures (particularly AlGaN/GaN), the experience base gained by the commercialization of GaN-based laser and light-emitting diodes and the existence of a high growth rate epitaxial method (hydride vapor phase epitaxy) for producing very thick layers or even quasi-substrates. These attributes have led to rapid progress in the realization of a broad range of GaN electronic devices, including heterostructure field effect transistors (HFETs), Schottky and p–i–n rectifiers, heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs), bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). This review focuses on the development of fabrication processes for these devices and the current state-of-the-art in device performance, for all of these structures. We also detail areas where more work is needed, such as reducing defect densities and purity of epitaxial layers, the need for substrates and improved oxides and insulators, improved p-type doping and contacts and an understanding of the basic growth mechanisms.

Fabrication and performance of GaN electronic devices

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etch rates for GaN are reported as a function of plasma pressure, plasma chemistry, rf power, and ICP power. Using a Cl2/H2/Ar plasma chemistry, GaN etch rates as high as 6875 A/min are reported. The GaN surface morphology remains smooth over a wide range of plasma conditions as quantified using atomic force microscopy. Several etch conditions yield highly anisotropic profiles with smooth sidewalls. These results have direct application to the fabrication of group‐III nitride etched laser facets.

Inductively coupled plasma etching of GaN

Ga2O3(Gd2O3) was deposited on GaN for use as a gate dielectric in order to fabricate a depletion metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). Analysis of the effect of temperature on the device shows that gate leakage is significantly reduced at elevated temperature relative to a conventional metal–semiconductor field-effect transistor fabricated on the same GaN layer. MOSFET device operation in fact improved upon heating to 400 °C. Modeling of the effect of temperature on contact resistance suggests that the improvement is due to a reduction in the parasitic resistances present in the device.

Effect of temperature on Ga2O3(Gd2O3)/GaN metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors

saturate at high excitation densities. These dependences are in excellent agreement with experimental results. The relevance of the results for optoelectronic GaN devices is discussed. It is shown that the peak intensity of the yellow luminescence line is negligibly small at typical injection currents of light-emitting diodes and lasers. © 1996 American Institute of Physics. @S0021-8979~96!01020-1#

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Competition between band gap and yellow luminescence in GaN and its relevance for optoelectronic devices

We have studied the effect that structural defects and chemical impurities have on the electron mobility in GaN films grown in a production scale metalorganic chemical vapor depositon system. Structural defects such as dislocations, stack-ing faults, twins, and amorphous regions in the buffer layer have been examined. In general, we have found that the structural defects are not the primary contributor to low mobility. However, there is one type of defect (“nanopipe”) that may be an important indirect contributor to mobility degradation by acting as a conduit into the film interior for impurities such as carbon and oxygen. We have also investigated the role that the principal impurities play in determining the electrical performance. Of particular concern was the presence of carbon result-ing from an incomplete dissociation of trimethylgallium precursor gas. Also present in the films were traces of oxygen, hydrogen, and aluminum, while heavy metals such as iron, chromium, and molybdenum were detected at or near the resolution limit of secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis. We present evidence for compensation by carbon at low carrier concentrations, which would help to explain the anomalous mobility behavior in GaN.

Effect of structural defects and chemical impurities on Hall mobilities in low pressure MOCVD grown GaN

GaN MIS diodes were demonstrated utilizing AlN and Ga2O3(Gd2O3) as insulators. A 345 A of AlN was grown on the MOCVD grown n-GaN in a MOMBE system using trimethylamine alane as Al precursor and nitrogen generated from a SVT RF N2 plasma. For the Ga2O3(Gd2O3) growth, a multi-MBE chamber was used and a 195 A oxide was E-beam evaporated from a single crystal source of Ga5Gd3O12. The forward breakdown voltage of AlN and Ga2O3(Gd2O3) diodes are 5 and 6 V, respectively, which are significantly improved over ∼1.2 V from that of a Schottky contact. From the C–V measurements, both kinds of diodes showed good charge modulation from accumulation to depletion at different frequencies. The insulator/GaN interface roughness and the thickness of the insulator were measured with X-ray reflectivity.

M. J. Schurman

Papers

Inductively coupled plasma etching of GaN

Effect of temperature on Ga2O3(Gd2O3)/GaN metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors

Competition between band gap and yellow luminescence in GaN and its relevance for optoelectronic devices

Effect of structural defects and chemical impurities on Hall mobilities in low pressure MOCVD grown GaN

Demonstration of GaN MIS diodes by using AlN and Ga2O3(Gd2O3) as dielectrics