Effects of Rapid Thermal Annealing on Optical Properties of GaInNAs/GaAs Single Quantum Well Grown by Plasma-Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy

The effects of Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) on the optical properties of GaInNAs/GaAs Single Quantum Well (SQW) grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy are investigated. Ion removal magnets were applied to reduce the ion damage during the growth process and the optical properties of GaInNAs/GaAs SQW are remarkably improved.RTA was carried out at 650℃ and its effect was studied by the comparising the roomtemperature PhotoLuminescence (PL) spectra for the non ion-removed (grown without magnets) sample with for the ion-removed (grown with magnets) one. The more significant improvement of PL characteristics for non ion-removed GaInNAs/GaAs SQW after annealing (compared with those for ion-removed) indicates that the nonradiative centers removed by RTA at 650℃ are mainly originated from ion damage. After annealing the PL blue shift for non ionremoved GaInNAs/GaAs SQW is much larger than those for InGaAs/GaAs and ion-removed GaInNAs/GaAs SQW. It is found that the larger PL blue shift of GaInNAs/GaAs SQW is due to the defect-assisted In-Ga interdiffusion rather than defect-assisted N-As interdiffusion.     

Effect of the conditions of metal-organic chemical-vapor epitaxy on the properties of GaInAsN epitaxial films

Epitaxial layers of GaInNAs quaternary alloys were grown by metal-organic chemical-vapor epitaxy. The structure of the layers was studied using X-ray diffraction and secondary-ion mass spectrometry, and their optical properties were investigated by photoluminescence and photocurrent measurements. GaInNAs layers lattice-matched to GaAs were grown. At lattice mismatches smaller than 10^?4, the layers show strong photoluminescence; at larger mismatches, the photoluminescence is quenched.     

Study of deep levels in GaAs <Emphasis Type="Italic">p–i–n</Emphasis> structures

An experimental study of the capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) of p⁺–p⁰–i–n⁰ structures based on undoped GaAs, grown by liquid-phase epitaxy at two crystallization-onset temperatures T_o (950 and 850°C), with optical illumination switched off and on, are performed. It is shown that the p⁰, i, and n⁰ layers of epitaxial structures are characterized by the presence of defects with deep donor- and acceptor-type levels in concentrations comparable with those of shallow donors and acceptors. Interface states are found, which manifest themselves in the C–V characteristics at different measurement temperatures and optical illumination; these states form an additive constant. A distinct temperature dependence of the steady-state capacitance of the structures is revealed. It is found that the injection of minority carriers under an applied positive filling pulse and optical recharging lead to modification of the structure and, correspondingly, the DLTS spectra of the p⁺–p⁰–i–n⁰ structures. It is revealed that the p⁺–p⁰–i–n⁰ GaAs structures grown at T_o = 850°C are characterized by a lack of interface states and that the recharging of acceptor-type deep traps under illumination does not change the C–V characteristics. The conventionally measured DLTS spectra reveal the presence of two hole traps: HL5 and HL2, which are typical of GaAs layers.     

Optimization of undoped gaas by low-pressure OMVPE using trimethylgallium

Optimization of the electrical characteristics of undoped GaAs grown by low-pressure OMVPE using trimethylgallium is presented. The use of a lower growth pressure was found to reduce both then- andp-type background impurity incorporation. Both electrical and optical measurements revealed that the arsine partial pressure controls the background impurity level during low-pressure growth. Variation of this parameter allowed the attainment of both high mobility (maximum of 136,000 cm²/V-sec at 77 K in this study) and high resistivity layers suitable for field-effect transistor buffers. AlGaAs/ GaAs two-dimensional electron gas structures and GaAs MESFETs using the high resistivity buffer layers showed excellent electrical characteristics. Similar trends were obtained using different AsH₃ sources despite variations in purity.     

Device and material properties of pseudomorphic HEMT structuressubjected to rapid thermal annealing

The device-related effects of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the electrical and optical properties of planar-doped AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs high-electron-mobility transistor structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy were investigated. Specifically, electrical and optical characterization techniques such as capacitance versus voltage, current versus voltage, Hall effect, and photoluminescence have been applied to study the effects that typical III-V compound semiconductor rapid thermal processes (RTPs) have on the properties of pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs structures for two different values of In mole fraction content. The effect and stability of the indium mole fraction on both heterostructure and device integrity with respect to RTA schedule has been investigated in detail     

High-power laser diodes (λ = 808–850 nm) based on asymmetric separate-confinement heterostructures

Symmetric and asymmetric separate-confinement AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures have been grown by MOCVD in accordance with the concept of design of high-power semiconductor lasers. High-power laser diodes with a 100-μm aperture, emitting in the 808–850-nm range, were fabricated from these structures. The internal optical loss in asymmetric separate-confinement heterostructures with broadened waveguide is reduced to 0.5 cm⁻¹. In the lasers with 1.7-μm-thick waveguide, the output optical power of 7.5 W in CW mode was achieved owing to reduction of the optical emission density at the cavity mirror to 4 mW/cm². Original Russian Text ? A.Yu. Andreev, A.Yu. Leshko, A.V. Lyutetskiĭ, A.A. Marmalyuk, T.A. Nalyot, A.A. Padalitsa, N.A. Ptkhtin, D.R. Sabitov, V.A. Simakov, S.O. Slipchenko, M.A. Khomylev, I.S. Tarasov, 2006, published in Fizika i Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, 2006, Vol. 40, No. 5, pp. 628–632.     

Modeling of Ga1−xInxAs1−y−zNySbz/GaAs quantum well properties for near-infrared lasers

The aim of this work is to model the properties of GaInAsNSb/GaAs compressively strained structures. Indeed, Ga_1?xIn_xAs_1?y?zN_ySb_z has been found to be a potentially superior material to GaInAsN for long wavelength laser dedicated to optical fiber communications. Furthermore, this material can be grown on GaAs substrate while having a bandgap smaller than that of GaInNAs. The influence of nitrogen and antimony on the bandgap and the transition energy is explored. Also, the effect of these two elements on the optical gain and threshold current density is investigated. For example, a structure composed of one 7.5 nm thick quantum well of material with In=30%, N=3.5%, Sb=1% composition exhibits a threshold current density of 339.8 A/cm² and an emission wavelength of 1.5365 μm (at T=300 K). It can be shown that increasing the concentration of indium to 35% with a concentration of nitrogen and antimony, of 2.5% and 1%, respectively, results in a decrease of the threshold current density down to 253.7 A/cm² for a two well structure. Same structure incorporating five wells shows a threshold current density as low as 221.4 A/cm² for T=300 K, which agrees well with the reported experimental results.     

Coupling of electron states in the InAs/GaAs quantum dot molecule

Deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) is used to study electron emission from the states in the system of vertically correlated InAs quantum dots in the p-n InAs/GaAs heterostructures, in relation to the thickness of the GaAs spacer between the two layers of InAs quantum dots and to the reverse-bias voltage. It is established that, with the 100 Å GaAs spacer, the InAs/GaAs heterostructure manifests itself as a system of uncoupled quantum dots. The DLTS spectra of such structures exhibit two peaks that are defined by the ground state and the excited state of an individual quantum dot, with energy levels slightly shifted (by 1–2 eV), due to the Stark effect. For the InAs/GaAs heterostructure with two layers of InAs quantum dots separated by the 40 Å GaAs spacer, it is found that the quantum dots are in the molecule-type phase. Hybridization of the electron states of two closely located quantum dots results in the splitting of the levels into bonding and antibonding levels corresponding to the electron ground states and excited states of the 1s ⁺, 1s ^?, 2p ⁺, 2p ^?, and 3d ⁺ types. These states manifest themselves as five peaks in the DLTS spectra. For these quantum states, a large Stark shift of energy levels (10–40 meV) and crossing of the dependences of the energy on the electric field are observed. The structures with vertically correlated quantum dots are grown by molecular beam epitaxy, with self-assembling effects.     

Current transport in fluorine implanted GaAs

Effects of fluorine implantation in GaAs have been investigated by electrical characterization. Ion implantation at 100 keV energy was conducted with doses of 10¹¹ and 10¹²/cm². The effect of fluorine implantation on current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of Schottky diodes was significant. Carrier compensation was observed after implantation by the improved I-V characteristics. The lower dose implanted samples showed thermionic emission dominated characteristics in the measurement temperature range of 300 to 100K. The starting wafer and the low dose implanted samples after rapid thermal annealing (RTA) showed similar I-V properties with excess current in the lower temperature range dominated by recombination. The higher dose implanted samples showed increased excess current in the whole temperature range which may result from the severe damage-induced surface recombination. These samples after RTA treatment did not recover from implantation damage as in the low dose implantation case. However, very good I-V characteristics were seen in the higher dose implanted samples after RTA. The influence of the higher dose ion implantation was to produce more thermal stability. The results show the potential application of fluorine implantation in GaAs device fabrication.     

Time and temperature dependence on rapid thermal annealing of molecular beam epitaxy grown Ga<Subscript>0.8</Subscript>In<Subscript>0.2</Subscript>N<Subscript>0.01</Subscript>As<Subscript>0.99</Subscript> quantum wells analyzed using photoluminescence

GaInNAs has received a great deal of attention among the scientific community, owing to its ability to be grown pseudomorphically on GaAs substrates and, thus, to extend the possibility of using GaAs based materials for technologically important wavelengths such as 1.3 μm. Annealing was found to be a very useful tool in improving the optical characteristics of as-grown GaInNAs films. This work presents a systematic statistical analysis of two annealing parameters, time and temperature, for Ga_0.8In_0.2N_0.01As_0.99 quantum wells. Annealing, in general, has resulted in decreasing the emission wavelength by at most 0.08 μm, narrowing the peaks by at most ∼25 meV and increasing the intensity by at most 90 times. However, from the statistical analysis, it is observed that the temperature is the dominant factor among time and temperature in recovering the optical properties.     

Optical and electrical properties of 4<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis>-SiC irradiated with fast neutrons and high-energy heavy ions

Photoluminescence and deep-level transient spectroscopy are used to study the effect of irradiation with fast neutrons and high-energy Kr (235 MeV) and Bi (710 MeV) ions on the optical and electrical properties of high-resistivity high-purity n-type 4H-SiC epitaxial layers grown by chemical vapor deposition. Electrical characteristics were studied using the barrier structures based on these epitaxial layers: Schottky barriers with Al and Cr contacts and p⁺-n-n⁺ diodes fabricated by Al ion implantation. According to the experimental data obtained, neutrons and high-energy ions give rise to the same defect-related centers. The results show that, even for the extremely high ionization density (34 keV/nm) characteristic of Bi ions, the formation of the defect structure in SiC single crystals is governed by energy losses of particles due to elastic collisions.     

Dilute nitride n-i-p-i solar cells

We propose a novel GaInNAs n-i-p-i doping superlattice to over come the problems of short minority carrier life times and low-diffusion lengths which lower the efficiency in conventional GaInNAs solar cells. A prototype structure is studied using the commercial simulation package DESSIS and the calculations of photo-generation, current density were carried out when the device is illuminated by an optical beam of a single wavelength below the band gap cut off. The I-V characteristics were simulated when both the samples were illuminated and in darkness.     

High-power laser diodes based on asymmetric separate-confinement heterostructures

Asymmetric separate-confinement laser heterostructures with ultrawide waveguides based on AlGaAs/GaAs/InGaAs solid solutions, with an emission wavelength of ～1080 nm, are grown by MOCVD. The optical and electrical properties of mesa-stripe lasers with a stripe width of ～100 μm are studied. Lasers based on asymmetric heterostructures with ultrawide (>1 μm) waveguides demonstrate lasing in the fundamental transverse mode with an internal optical loss of as low as 0.34 cm^?1. In laser diodes with a cavity length of more than 3 mm, the thermal resistance is reduced to 2°C/W, and the characteristic temperature T ₀= 10°C is obtained in the range 0–100°C. A record-breaking wallplug efficiency of 74% and an output optical power of 16 W are reached in CW mode. Mean-time-between-failures testing for 1000 h at 65°C with an operation power of 3–4 W results in the power decreasing by 3–7%.     

Influence of the electron-hole equilibrium shift on transition-metal diffusion in GaAs

Diffusion of impurities of transition metals Fe, Cu, and Cr in heavily doped p ⁺-, n ⁺-, and intrinsic (at diffusion temperature) GaAs is studied. A technique in which impurity diffuses into GaAs-based structures with heavily doped layers (p ⁺-n or n ⁺-n) was used. It is shown that the impurity diffusivity values in p ⁺-GaAs and n ⁺-GaAs are significantly higher and lower, respectively, than for i-GaAs. The results obtained are discussed taking into account the effect of the electron-hole equilibrium shift in semiconductors on the diffusion of impurities migrating according to the dissociative mechanism. The interstitial-component concentration for Fe, Cu, and Cr impurities in GaAs was determined at the diffusion temperature.     

Structural and electrical contact properties of LPE grown GaAs doped with indium

We have studied the effects of In doping on the structural and electrical properties of a liquid phase epitaxially (LPE) grown GaAs. The results of surface morphology studies show that macroscopically, a terrace-free area in certain regions can be seen on the surface of a GaAs layer doped with In of 2.4 × 10¹⁹ cm³. The full widths at half-maximum (FWHM) of x-ray double crystal rocking curves show that a GaAs epi-layer of good crystalline quality can be obtained by doping In to a concentration up to 4.3 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3, beyond which a sharp increase in the FWHM is observed. Etch pit density (EPD) study also shows that the dislocation density is reduced by doping the epi-layer with In. At an optimum In concentration, 2.4 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3, the EPD was reduced by a factor of 20 when measured at the surface of a 9μm thick epi-layer. The I-V characteristics of Au-GaAs Schottky diodes show, for the layer with an optimal In concentration, an ideality factor close to 1.04 over more than seven decades of current. For the same layer, the reverse I-V characteristics are close to an ideal Schottky diode and could be fitted by a theoretical curve, combining the thermionic field emission and thermionic emission. For doping levels higher than 6 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3, the epitaxial layer quality deteriorated. We report the results obtained from the Nomarski optical microscope, double crystal x-ray rocking curves, etch pit density, forward and reverse I-V characteristics, and the theoretical current transport models.     

CdTe/ZnTe/GaAs Heterostructures for Single-Crystal CdTe Solar Cells

Amorphous CdS/single-crystal CdTe solar cells were grown on GaAs substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The structures of the films and the electrical properties of the devices were characterized. Highly conducting arsenic-doped ZnTe was grown on GaAs(100) substrates as the buffer layer for CdTe growth. By use of a ～30-nm ZnTe buffer layer, a p-CdTe film with a doping level of ～5×10¹⁶ cm^?3 was achieved. The hole concentration of p-CdTe increased with increasing VI/II ratio under a high As concentration during growth. From temperature-dependent Hall transport measurements, the ionization energy of the As acceptor in the p-CdTe was estimated to be approximately 88 meV. Ohmic behavior of the junctions between CdTe/ZnTe and ZnTe/GaAs was also confirmed. The solar cell performance of this structure, for example an open circuit voltage of 0.63 V, could be improved if the crystal quality of the CdTe film is optimized and the dislocation density of the CdTe film is minimized.     

Photoreflectance Spectroscopy Study of LT-GaAs Layers Grown on Si and GaAs Substrates

The mechanical strains and densities of surface charge states in GaAs layers grown by low-temperature (LT) molecular-beam epitaxy on Si(100) and GaAs(100) substrates are investigated by photoreflectance spectroscopy. Lines corresponding to the fundamental transition (E _g ) and the transition between the conduction band and spin-orbit-split valence subband (E _g + Δ _SO ) in GaAs are observed in the photoreflectance spectra of Si/LT-GaAs structures at 1.37 and 1.82 eV, respectively. They are shifted to lower and higher energies, respectively, relative to the corresponding lines in GaAs/LT-GaAs structures. Comparing the spectra of the Si/LT-GaAs and GaAs/LT-GaAs structures, it is possible to estimate mechanical strains in LT-GaAs layers grown on Si (by analyzing the spectral-line shifts) and the density of charge-carrier states at the GaAs/Si heterointerface (by analyzing the period of Franz–Keldysh oscillations).     

MBE growth and processing of diluted nitride quantum well lasers on GaAs (1 1 1)B

We have grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy GaInNAs/GaAs (1 1 1)B quantum wells (QWs) embedded in p-i-n diode and laser diode structures. The impact of the different growth parameters (As flux, growth temperature, growth rate, ion density) on the optical and structural properties of this material is studied by Photoluminescence and Atomic Force Microscopy. Additionally, systematic studies of rapid thermal annealing cycles have been performed to optimize the laser structures. Finally, edge-emitting laser diodes have been processed using these structures. These devices showed room-temperature laser emission above 1.2 μm under pulsed current conditions.     

Irradiation of 4<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis>-SiC UV detectors with heavy ions

Ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors based on Schottky barriers to 4H-SiC are formed on lightly doped n-type epitaxial layers grown by the chemical vapor deposition method on commercial substrates. The diode structures are irradiated at 25°C by 167-MeV Xe ions with a mass of 131 amu at a fluence of 6 × 10⁹ cm^?2. Comparative studies of the optical and electrical properties of as-grown and irradiated structures with Schottky barriers are carried out in the temperature range 23–180°C. The specific features of changes in the photosensitivity and electrical characteristics of the detector structures are accounted for by the capture of photogenerated carriers into traps formed due to fluctuations of the conduction-band bottom and valence-band top, with subsequent thermal dissociation.     

Conductivity of Ga<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>–GaAs Heterojunctions

The effect of annealing in argon at temperatures of T_an = 700–900°C on the I–V characteristics of metal–Ga₂O₃–GaAs structures is investigated. Samples are prepared by the thermal deposition of Ga₂O₃ powder onto GaAs wafers with a donor concentration of N _d = 2 × 10¹⁶ cm^–3. To measure theI–V characteristics, V/Ni metal electrodes are deposited: the upper electrode (gate) is formed on the Ga₂O₃ film through masks with an area of S _k = 1.04 × 10^–2 cm² and the lower electrode in the form of a continuous metallic film is deposited onto GaAs. After annealing in argon at T_an ≥ 700°C, the Ga₂O₃-n-GaAs structures acquire the properties of isotype n-heterojunctions. It is demonstrated that the conductivity of the structures at positive gate potentials is determined by the thermionic emission from GaAs to Ga₂O₃. Under negative biases, current growth with an increase in the voltage and temperature is caused by field-assisted thermal emission in gallium arsenide. In the range of high electric fields, electron phonon-assisted tunneling through the top of the potential barrier is dominant. High-temperature annealing does not change the electron density in the oxide film, but affects the energy density of surface states at the GaAs–Ga₂O₃ interface.