Persistent photoconductivity and electron mobility in In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.52Al0.48As/InP quantum-well structures

The influence of the width of the quantum well L and doping on the band structure, scattering, and electron mobility in nanoheterostructures with an isomorphic In_0.52Al_0.48As/In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.52Al_0.48As quantum well grown on an InP substrate are investigated. The quantum and transport mobilities of electrons in the dimensionally quantized subbands are determined using Shubnikov-de Haas effect measurements. These mobilities are also calculated for the case of ionized-impurity scattering taking into account intersub-band electron transitions. It is shown that ionized-impurity scattering is the dominant mechanism of electron scattering. At temperatures T < 170 K, persistent photoconductivity is observed, which is explained by the spatial separation of photoexcited charge carriers.     

OMVPE growth of In0.53Ga0.47As on InP using tertiarybutylarsine

We have successfully grown bulk In_0.53Ga_0.47As on InP using tertiarybutylarsine (TBA), trimethylindium and trimethylgallium. The growth temperature was 602° and the V/III ratio ranged from 19 to 38. Net carrier concentrations were 2 – 4 × 10¹⁵ cm^-3, n-type, with a peak 77 K mobility of 68,000 cm²/V. sec. Increasing compensation was observed in In_0.53Ga_0.47As grown at higher V/III ratios. PL spectra taken at 5 K revealed strong near bandgap emission at 0.81 eV—with the best sample having a FWHM of 2.5 meV. At lower energies, donor-acceptor pair transitions were evident. Strong and sharp 5 K PL emission was observed from InP/In_0.53Ga_0.47As/InP quantum wells grown with TBA.     

Thermal stability of Al0.48In0.52As/Ga0.47In0.53As/InP heterostructure and its improvement by phosphidization

A drastic decrease in the sheet carrier concentration of modulation-doped Al_0.48In_0.52As/Ga_0.47In_0.53As/InP heterostructures has been observed after O₂ plasma treatment followed by thermal treatment up to 350°C. The decrease in sheet carrier concentration, which is speculated to be caused by both plasma damage and impurities penetrating from the surface of the epilayer, can be suppressed substantially by using PH₃ plasma treatment prior to the O₂ plasma and thermal treatments.     

Ultrafast Dynamics of Photoexcited Charge Carriers in In<Subscript>0.53</Subscript>Ga<Subscript>0.47</Subscript>As/In<Subscript>0.52</Subscript>Al<Subscript>0.48</Subscript>As Superlattices under Femtosecond Laser Excitation

The results of experimental studies of the time dynamics of photoexcited charge carriers in In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.52Al_0.48As superlattices grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on a GaAs substrate with a metamorphic buffer are reported. On the basis of the results of the numerical simulation of band diagrams, the optimal thickness of the In_0.52Al_0.48As barrier layer (4 nm) is chosen. At this thickness, the electron wave functions in In_0.53Ga_0.47As substantially overlap the In_0.52Al_0.48As barriers. This makes it possible to attain a short lifetime of photoexcited charge carriers (τ ~ 3.4 ps) at the wavelength λ = 800 nm and the pumping power 50 mW without doping of the In_0.53Ga_0.47As layer with beryllium. It is shown that an increase in the wavelength to λ = 930 nm (at the same pumping power) yields a decrease in the lifetime of photoexcited charge carriers to τ ~ 2 ps. This effect is attributed to an increase in the capture cross section of trapping states for electrons with lower energies and to a decrease in the occupancy of traps at lower excitation densities.     

Thermal characteristics of InP, InAlAs, and AlGaAsSb metamorphic buffer layers used in In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As heterojunction bipolar transistors grown on GaAs substrates

In_0.52Al_0.48As/In_0.53Ga_0.47As heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) were grown metamorphically on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. In these growths, InAlAs, AlGaAsSb, and InP metamorphic buffer layers were investigated. The InAlAs and AlGaAsSb buffer layers had linear compositional grading while the InP buffer layer used direct binary deposition. The transistors grown on these three layers showed similar characteristics. Bulk thermal conductivities of 10.5, 8.4, and 16.1 W/m K were measured for the InAlAs, AlGaAsSb, and InP buffer layers, as compared to the 69 W/m K bulk thermal conductivity of bulk InP. Calculations of the resulting HBT junction temperature strongly suggest that InP metamorphic buffer layers should be employed for metamorphic HBTs operating at high power densities.     

Very high purity In0.53Ga0.47As grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Very high purity In0_0.53Ga_0.47As layers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Origins ofn-type impurities in undoped In_0.53Ga_0.47As grown on an InP:Fe substrate were systematically examined. The most possible origins were impurities diffusing from the InP:Fe substrate and those contained in As molecular beam. These impurities were dramatically reduced by using an InAlAs buffer layer and a growth condition of high substrate temperature and low As pressure. The lowest electron concentration of the In0_0.53Ga_0.47As layer wasn = 1.8 × 10¹³ cm_-3 with mobilitiesμ = 15200 cm²/Vs at 300 K andμ = 104000 cm²/Vs at 77 K.     

Highly confined two-dimensional electron gas in an In0.52AI0.48As/In0.52Ga0.47As modulation-doped structure with a strained InAs quantum well

This paper examines a detailed analysis by Shubnikov-de Haas measurements of the effective mass of two-dimensinal electron gas (2DEG) in an In_0.52Al_0.48As/ In_0.53Ga_0.47As modulation-doped (MD) structure with an InAs quantum well inserted into the InGaAs channel (InAs-inserted channel). The measured effec-tive mass of 2DEG in the InAs-inserted-channel MD structure is in good agreement with the calculated one of the strained InAs layer on In_0.53Ga_0.47As. This indicates that almost all of the 2DEG forms in the strained InAs quantum well. These results show that the InAs-inserted-channel MD structure improves the electron confinement, since the 2DEG is confined in the InAs quantum well with the thickness of 4 nm.     

Electron transport in an In<Subscript>0.52</Subscript>Al<Subscript>0.48</Subscript>As/In<Subscript>0.53</Subscript>Ga<Subscript>0.47</Subscript>As/In<Subscript>0.52</Subscript>Al<Subscript>0.48</Subscript>As quantum well with a δ-Si doped barrier in high electric fields

The electron conduction in a two-dimensional channel of an In_0.52Al_0.48As/In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.52Al_0.48As quantum well (QW) with a δ-Si doped barrier has been investigated. It is shown that the introduction of thin InAs barriers into the QW reduces the electron scattering rate from the polar optical and interface phonons localized in the QW and increases the electron mobility. It is found experimentally that the saturation of the conduction current in the In_0.53Ga_0.47As channel in strong electric fields is determined by not only the sublinear field dependence of the electron drift velocity, but also by the decrease in the electron concentration n _s with an increase in the voltage across the channel. The dependence of n _s on the applied voltage is due to the ionized-donor layer located within the δ-Si doped In_0.52Al_0.48As barrier and oriented parallel to the In_0.53Ga_0.47As QW.     

The effect of strained Al0.7In0.3As emitter layers on abrupt N-p+ AllnAs-GaInAs heterojunction diodes and heterojunction bipolar transistors

Strained Al_xIn_1−xAs/Ga_0.47In_0.53As heterojunction N-p⁺ diodes and heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) have been grown on InP substrates by solid-source molecular-beam epitaxy, fabricated, and characterized. To determine the effects of the conduction-band discontinuity at the emitter-base heterojunction on turn-on voltage and ideality factor, a strained Al_0.7In_0.3As layer is inserted in the emitter near the base. Changes in transport across the junction are observed as a function of the strained-layer position and thickness. These results were used to implement strained emitter HBTs.     

Dry etching characteristics of In1-x-y Ga x Al y as alloys in CCl2F2:Ar and CH4:H2:Ar discharges

The etching characteristics of InGaAlAs alloys lattice-matched to InP were investigated using low pressure (1 mTorr) electron cyclotron resonance CH₄:H₂:Ar or CCl₂F₂:Ar discharges with additional radiofrequency biasing of the samples. Using CCl₂F₂:Ar discharges with ≥250V negative bias it is possible to obtain equi-rate etching of the material for all compositions between In_0.53Ga_0.47As and In_0.52Al_0.48As. At lower bias values, formation of A1F₃ on the surface leads to an inhibition of the etch rates. By making use of the differential etch rates of InGaAlAs layers of different compositions in CH₄:H₂:Ar mixtures, it is possible to choose dc bias values that allow one to stop the etching at a pre-selected depth in a multi-layer structure. For example, for -150 V bias, one can etch through In_0.53Ga_0.47As, In_0.53Ga_0.40Al_0.07As and Ino.53Ga_0.30Al_0.17As layers, and stop at an underlying layer with composition In_0.53Ga_0.20Al_0.27As.