Modeling of short-pulse threshold voltage shifts due to DX centersin AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs and AlxGa1-xAs/InyGa1-yAs MODFET's

The DX-center-related short-pulse threshold voltage shifts (SPTVS) in Al_xGa_1-xAs-based MODFETs is modeled using CBAND, a simulator that solves Poisson equations self-consistently with Schrodinger equations and donor statistics. Using values given in the literature for the DX energy level in Al_xGa_1-xAs this technique gives good agreement between measured and simulated SPTVS for Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/GaAs and Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/In_0.2Ga_0.8As MODFETs. Both simulation and experiment show that the use of Al_0.2 Ga_0.8As in the donor layer reduces the SPTVS relative to the structures using Al_0.3Ga_0.7As. However, the measured shifts at this composition are considerably lower than the simulated values, indicating a DX energy level that may be higher than the value extrapolated from the literature, possibly due to the existence of multiple trap levels. Despite this discrepancy, these results support the use of strained-channel layers and lower Al_x Ga_1-xAs compositions in MODFETs for digital and other large-signal applications requiring good threshold stability     

Monte Carlo study of GaAs/Alx Ga1-xAsMODFETs: effects of AlxGa1-xAs composition

Monte Carlo methods are used to compare electronic transport and device behavior in n⁺-Al_xGa_1-xAs/GaAs modulation-doped field-effect transistors (MODFETs) at 300 K for x =0.10, 0.15, 0.22, 0.30, 0.35, and 0.40. The differences between the x=0.22 and x=0.30 MODFETs with respect to parasitic conduction in Al_xGa_1-xAs, gate currents, and switching times, are of particular interest. The donor-related deep levels in Al_xGa_1-xAs, are disregarded by assuming all donors to be fully ionized, and the focus is only on the confinement and transport of the carriers. The following quantities are studied in detail: transfer characteristics (I_D versus V _G), transconductance (g_m), switching speeds (τ_ON), parasitic conduction in Al_xGa _1-xAs, gate current (I_G), average electron velocities and energies in GaAs and Al_xGa_1-x As, electron concentration in the device domain, k-space transfer (to low mobility L and X valleys), and details of the real-space transfer process     

Temperature dependence of the ionization coefficients of AlxGa1-xAs

As Al_xGa_1-xAs alloys are increasingly used for microwave and millimeter wave power devices and circuits that work under high electric field intensities and junction temperatures; understanding the temperature dependence of impact ionization and related properties in this material system becomes more and more important. Measurements of the multiplication gain and noise of avalanche photodiodes (APDs) provide insight to the avalanche characteristics of semiconductors. Previously, we have reported the characteristics of GaAs and Al_0.2Ga_0.8As APD's at room temperature. In this paper, the gain and noise of a series of homojunction Al_xGa_1-xAs APD's were investigated over a wide temperature range from 29°C to 125°C, and the temperature dependence of their ionization coefficients was extracted     

Hot electron and DX center insensitivity ofAl0.25Ga0.75As/GaAs HFET's designed for microwavepower applications

We show in this work that, although designing Al_xGa_1-xAs/GaAs HFET's for microwave power applications requires a large barrier layer bandgap (hence x>0.2), the presence of a large concentration of electrically active DX centers in the barrier layer does not hinder the device reliability. The existence of a remarkable quantity of DX centers in the Al_0.25Ga_0.75As barrier layer is for the first time revealed by means of room temperature electroluminescence, and their concentration is evaluated by measuring the threshold voltage shift induced by hot electron stress at cryogenic temperatures     

Electron emission from direct bandgap heterojunction capacitors

The rate of emission of electrons from an inversion layer at the interface between p-type GaAs and undoped Al_xGa_1-xAs (x=0.38) is measured using a transient capacitance technique at temperatures from 49.8 to 84.4 K and at various gate biases. A model based on physical mechanisms is developed that accurately describes the inversion charge leakage. The model parameters are adjusted within their limits of uncertainty to obtain the optimal fit of present theory to experiment. The fit results in estimation of δE_c=0.28 eV and tunneling effective mass m*=0.08 m^O, for Al_0.38 Ga_0.62As. The model is used to predict the storage characteristics of similar devices with lower GaAs doping and with an alternate barrier material     

Influence of Al content x on hot electron noise in AlxGa1-xAs n+nn+ devices: comparison withGaAs

Hot electron noise measurements are performed in Si doped Al_x Ga_1-xAs n⁺nn⁺ devices, for three different Al concentrations: x=0.15, 0.2, 0.25. Noise temperatures are obtained using a pulsed measurement technique as functions of electric field and frequency. Longitudinal diffusion coefficients D(E) are deduced at 4 GHz. Results are analyzed through the scattering mechanisms which greatly affect the electron velocity properties of Al_xGa_1-xAs materials. Comparisons with n⁺ nn⁺ GaAs devices are made     

GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well GRIN-SCH vertical cavity surfaceemitting laser diodes

Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) with GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well (20 wells) graded-index separate-confinement-heterostructure (GRIN-SCH) active regions are discussed. The VCSEL structures, which also contained two Al_xGa_1-xAs/Al_yGa_1-yAs distributed Bragg reflectors, were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and had a threshold current and current density at room temperature pulsed excitation of 16 mA and 14 kA/cm², respectively, near 0.85-μm wavelength. Both single-longitudinal and fundamental transverse mode emission characteristics were observed with a light output greater than 3 mW and a slope efficiency of 0.12 mW/mA     

In0.5(AlxGa1-x)0.5HEMTs for high-efficiency low-voltage power amplifiers: design,fabrication, and device results

In_0.5(Al_xGa_1-x)_0.5 high electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) are expected to have higher two-dimensional electron gas density and larger current drive capability than both Al_0.23Ga_0.77As and In_0.5Ga _0.5P HEMTs due to the improved conduction-band offsets. In this paper, we performed a systematic investigation of the electrical properties of In_0.5(Al_xGa_1-x)_0.5 P (0⩽x⩽1) material system lattice matched to GaAs. By considering the conduction-band offset, direct-to-indirect-band electron transfer, donor-related deep levels, and Schottky barrier height, a relatively narrow range of the Al content 0.2⩽x⩽0.3 was found to be the optimum for the design of In_0.5(Al_xGa_1-x)_0.5 HEMTs. Under 1.2-V operation, power transistors with the optimum aluminum composition show high drain current density, high transconductance, and excellent power-added efficiency (65.2% at 850 MHz). These results demonstrate that InAlGaP HEMTs are promising candidates for high-efficiency low-voltage power applications     

Characteristics of a In0.52(AlxGa1-x)0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As(0⩽x⩽1) heterojunction and its application onHEMT's

The quaternary In_0.52(Al_xGa_1-x) _0.48As compound on InP substrates is an important material for use in optoelectronic and microwave devices. We systematically investigated the electrical properties of quaternary In_0.52(Al_xGa_1-x)_0.48As layers, and found a 10% addition of Ga atoms into the InAlAs layer improves the Schottky diode performance. The energy bandgap (E_g ) for the In_0.52(Al_xGa_1-x)_0.48As layer was (0.806+0.711x) eV, and the associated conduction-band discontinuity (ΔE_c), in the InAlGaAs/In_0.53Ga_0.47 As heterojunction, was around (0.68±0.01)ΔE_g . Using this high quality In_0.52(Al_0.9Ga_0.1)_0.48As layer in the Schottky and buffer layers, we obtained quaternary In_0.52(Al_0.9Ga_0.1)_0.48As/In _0.53Ga_0.47As HEMTs. This quaternary HEMT revealed excellent dc and microwave characteristics. In comparison with the conventional InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT's, quaternary HEMT's demonstrated improved sidegating and device reliability     

High-quality two-dimensional electron gas inAlxGa1-xAs/GaAs heterostructures by LP-OMVPE

A combination of high mobility and high sheet carrier density in Al_xGa_1-xAs/GaAs two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) elements was obtained by low-pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE). The sheet charge densities (n_s) and mobilities (μ) at 77 K are 1.2×10¹²/cm² and 90000 cm²/V-s for single-channel, and 2.0× 10¹²/cm² and 64500 cm²/V-s for double-channel elements, respectively. Strong correlations between the photoluminescence spectrum of the Al_xGa_1-xAs layers and the 2DEG mobility were found. The 2DEG elements were used as mixers and detectors at millimeter wavelengths. Mixing at 94 GHz with a 1.7-GHz IF bandwidth and detection of signals as high as 238 GHz under a magnetic field were achieved with these devices     

Fabrication of high-performance AlxGa1-xAs/InyGa1-yAs/GaAs resonant tunneling diodes using amicrowave-compatible technology

A microwave-compatible process for fabricating planar integrated resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) is described. High-performance RTDs have been fabricated using Al_xGa_1-xAs/In_y Ga_1-yAs/GaAs strained layers. Peak-to-valley current ratios (PVRs) of 4.8:1 with simultaneous peak current densities of 4×10⁴ A/cm² have been achieved at room temperature for diodes of area 9 μm². Accurate measurements of reflection gain versus frequency between 1.5 and 26.5 GHz in the negative differential region indicate that the present technology is promising for millimeter-wave integrated circuits including self-oscillating mixers, frequency multipliers, and detectors     

Improved performance of submicrometer-gate GaAs MESFETs with an Al0.3Ga0.7As buffer layer grown by metal organicvapor phase epitaxy

Submicrometer-gate MESFETs were fabricated with a GaAs active layer and an Al_xGa_1-xAs buffer layer grown by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy. To investigate the effect of buffer layer composition on device performance, microwave FETs with GaAs and Al _0.3Ga_0.7As buffer layers were compared. Electron Hall mobility in the n-GaAs active layer was found to be unaffected by the Al content or carrier concentration in the buffer layer. However, a considerable improvement in the maximum available gain to as much as 5.2 dB was obtained at 26.5 GHz for FETs with a p-Al_0.3Ga_0.7 As buffer layer; this was 1.5 dB higher than the gain obtained with a p-GaAs buffer layer. The improvement is due to a 20-30% reduction in both drain conductance and drain-gate capacitance     

A study of wet oxidized AlxGa1-xAs forintegrated optics

An investigation of wet oxidized Al_xGa_1-xAs layers in integrated optical applications is reported. Refractive index and thickness shrinkage of wet oxidized Al_xGa_1-xAs layers are measured using spectroscopic ellipsometry. A Cauchy fit to the refractive index is found in the wavelength range between 0.3 and 1.6 μm. The refractive index at 1.55 μm is found to be 1.66±0.01 with little dispersion around 1.55 μm. Very low loss single-mode waveguides with metal electrodes showing very low polarization dependence of loss coefficient are fabricated using wet oxidized Al_xGa_1-xAs layers as upper cladding. Optical polarization splitters are also designed and fabricated from the same type of waveguides taking advantage of increased birefringence. Designs utilizing wet oxidized Al_xGa_1-xAs are compared with conventional designs using only compound semiconductor heterostructures     

Continuous operation of high-power (200 mW) strained-layerGa1-xInxAs/GaAs quantum-well lasers with emissionwavelengths 0.87⩽λ⩽0.95 μm

Separate confinement single-quantum-well lasers with 100-120 Å-thick strained Ga_1-xIn_xAs/GaAs active layers have been grown on (100) GaAs substrates by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition. Ten-stripe proton-implanted arrays with 90 μm-wide aperture and 250 μm cavity length emit 200 mW CW optical power at wavelengths 0.87⩽λ⩽0.95 μm. Lifetest data on an uncoated device emitting 90 mW/facet at 50°C and λ=0.95 μm suggest a mean-time-to-failure in excess of 2500 h at room temperature. The performance of lasers with strained Ga_1-xIn_xAs quantum wells is comparable to that of unstrained Al_xGa_1-xAs/GaAs quantum-well lasers without facet coating     

High temperature characteristics of strained InGaAs/lnGaAsP quantumwell lasers lattice matched to GaAs

The effect of high temperature on the threshold current density and the gain of In_xGa_1-xAs/InGaAsP (E_g=1.6 eV) QW lasers lattice matched to GaAs is investigated theoretically. These results are also compared with those of In_x Ga_1-xAs/GaAs QW lasers. It is found that better performance can be achieved in InGaAs/InGaAsP lasers compared to InGaAs/GaAs lasers at high temperature. This is due to the fact that the temperature dependence of the threshold carrier density for InGaAs/InGaAsP lasers is weaker than that for InGaAs/GaAs lasers. The calculated characteristic temperature is in good agreement with reported experimental results     

GaAs quantum wire lasers grown on v-grooved substrates isolated byself-aligned ion implantation

Multiple vertically stacked GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs quantum wires laser diodes have been fabricated via MOVPE on v-grooved GaAs substrates. The devices are electrically isolated by oxygen ion implantation, utilizing the nonplanarity of the device. The process is self-aligning and requires no masking, yielding significant simplification in the device fabrication. Optimum implant conditions are determined. A quantum internal efficiency of 65.8% is measured for the optimum implanted devices, which exhibit a 5.5 mA threshold current     

Growth and metallization of AlGaAs/GaAs carbon-doped HBTs usingtrimethylamine alane by CBE

It is shown that the entire structure of high-quality AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) including a nonalloyed δ-doped ohmic contact and in-situ Al metallization can be grown by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) using a new precursor, trimethylamine alane, as the Al source. The graded Al_xGa_1-xAs and uniform GaAs bases (both ~1000 A thick) are doped with carbon to high 10 ¹⁹ cm^-3 using trimethyl-Ga. A current gain of 10 at a current density of 2500 A/cm² is obtained for both uniform- and graded-base HBTs. Both devices show good output characteristics     

Molecular beam epitaxy growth and characterization of InGaP/InGaAspseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) having achannel layer over critical layer thickness

In_0.5Ga_0.5P/In_xGa_1-xAs (x=0.33 and 0.40), pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (p-HEMTs) having a channel layer over the critical layer thickness were grown on patterned and nonpatterned GaAs substrates by using a compound-source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Characteristics of the highly strained InGaP/In_xGa_1-xAs (x=0.33 and 0.40) p-HEMTs grown on patterned substrates were compared with those of conventional InGaP/In_0.22Ga_0.78As p-HEMTs grown on a nonpatterned substrate. The highly strained InGaP/In_0.33Ga _0.67As p-HEMT showed substantial improvements in device performances including DC (drain saturation current and transconductance), microwave (f_T and f_max), low-frequency noise (Hooge parameter), and high-frequency noise (minimum noise figure and associated gain) characteristics compared with those of the conventional InGaP/In_0.22Ga_0.78As p-HEMT. The improvements in device performances of the highly strained InGaP/In_0.33Ga_0.67As p-HEMT are attributed to the improved transport property of the high-quality highly strained In_0.33Ga_0.67As channel layer achieved by the use of the patterned substrate growth. The results indicate the potential of highly strained InGaP/In_xGa_1-xAs p-HEMTs having a channel layer in excess of the critical layer thickness grown on patterned GaAs substrates for use in high-performance microwave device applications     

Millimeter-wave ion-implanted gradedInxGa1-xAs MESFETs grown by MOCVD

The authors present the fabrication and characterization of ion-implanted graded In_xGa_1-xAs/GaAs MESFETs. The In_xGa_1-xAs layers are grown on GaAs substrates by MOCVD (metal-organic chemical vapor deposition) with InAs concentration graded from 15% at the substrate to 0% at the surface. 0.5-μm gate MESFETs are fabricated on these wafers using silicon ion implantation. In addition to improved Schottky contact, the graded In_xGa _1-xAs MESFET achieves maximum extrinsic transconductance of 460 mS/mm and a current-gain cutoff frequency f_t of 61 GHz, which is the highest ever reported for a 0.5-μm gate MESFET. In comparison, In_0.1Ga_0.9As MESFETs fabricated with the same processing technique show an f_t of 55 GHz     

Numerical modeling of energy balance equations in quantum well AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs p-i-n photodiodes

The energy balance equations coupled with drift diffusion transport equations in heterojunction semiconductor devices are solved modeling hot electron effects in single quantum well p-i-n photodiodes. The transports across the heterojunction boundary and through quantum wells are modeled by thermionic emission theory. The simulation and experimental current-voltage characteristics of a single p-i-n GaAs/Al _xGa_1-xAs quantum well agree over a wide range of current and voltage, The GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs p-i-n structures with multi quantum wells are simulated and the dark current voltage characteristics, short circuit current, and open circuit voltage results are compared with the available experimental data, In agreement with the experimental data, simulated results show that by adding GaAs quantum wells to the conventional cell made of wider bandgap Al_x Ga_1-xAs, short circuit current is improved, but there is a loss of the voltage of the host cell, In the limit of radiative recombination, the maximum power point of an Al_0.35Ga_0.65As/GaAs p-i-n photodiode with 30-quantum-well periods is higher than the maximum power point of similar conventional bulk p-i-n cells made out of either host Al_0.35Ga_0.65As or bulk GaAs material