Photoluminescence studies of In0.7Al0.3As/In0.75Ga0.25As/In0.7Al0.3As metamorphic heterostructures on GaAs substrates

The influence of the design of the metamorphic buffer of In_0.7Al_0.3As/In_0.75Ga_0.25As metamorphic nanoheterostructures for high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) on their electrical parameters and photoluminescence properties is studied experimentally. The heterostructures are grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on GaAs (100) substrates with linear or step-graded In _x Al_{1 ? x} As metamorphic buffers. For the samples with a linear metamorphic buffer, strain-compensated superlattices or inverse steps are incorporated into the buffer. At photon energies ?ω in the range 0.6–0.8 eV, the photoluminescence spectra of all of the samples are identical and correspond to transitions from the first and second electron subbands to the heavy-hole band in the In_0.75Ga_0.25As/In_0.7Al_0.3As quantum well. It is found that the full width at half-maximum of the corresponding peak is proportional to the two-dimensional electron concentration and the luminescence intensity increases with increasing Hall mobility in the heterostructures. At photon energies ?ω in the range 0.8–1.3 eV corresponding to the recombination of charge carriers in the InAlAs barrier region, some features are observed in the photoluminescence spectra. These features are due to the difference between the indium profiles in the smoothing and lower barrier layers of the samples. In turn, the difference arises from the different designs of the metamorphic buffer.     

Study of the influence of strained superlattices introduced into a metamorphic buffer on the electrophysical properties and the atomic structure of InAlAs/InGaAs MHEMT heterostructures

The results of studying the influence of strained superlattices introduced into a metamorphic buffer on the electrophysical properties and atomic crystal structure of In_0.70Al_0.30As/In_0.76Ga_0.24As/In_0.70Al_0.30As metamorphic high-electron-mobility transistor (MHEMT) nanoheterostructures on GaAs substrates are presented. Two types of MHEMT structures are grown by molecular beam epitaxy, namely, one with a linear increase in x in the In _x Al_{1 ? x} As metamorphic buffer, and the second with two mismatched superlattices introduced inside the metamorphic buffer. The electrophysical and structural parameters of the grown samples are studied by the van der Pauw method, transmission electron microscopy (including scanning and high-resolution microscopy), atomic-force microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. It is revealed that the introduction of superlattices into a metamorphic buffer substantially improves the electrophysical and structural characteristics of MHEMT structures.     

Effect of GaAs (100) substrate misorientation on the electrical parameters and surface morphology of metamorphic In0.7Al0.3As/In0.75Ga0.25As/In0.7Al0.3As HEMT nanoheterostructures

The results of studies of the effect of GaAs (100) substrate misorientation on the electrical parameters and surface morphology of high electron mobility In_0.7Al_0.3As/In_0.75Ga_0.25As/In_0.7Al_0.3As/GaAs nanoheterostructures are reported. Using molecular-beam epitaxy, two identical structures with a stepped compositional profile of the metamorphic In _x Al_{1 ? x} As (Δ _x = 0.05) buffer are grown on substrates of two types: a singular GaAs substrate with the orientation (100) ± 0.5° and a GaAs (100) substrate misoriented by (2 ± 0.5)° in the $\left[ {0\bar 1\bar 1} \right]$ direction. It is found that, in the case of the misoriented substrate, the concentration of the two-dimensional electron gas is ～40% higher. Broadening of the photoluminescence spectra and a shift of the peaks to lower photon energies, as experimentally observed in the case of the misoriented substrate, are attributed to the increased roughness of the heterointerfaces and strengthened fluctuations of the quantum-well width.     

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.     

Ti/Al/Ti/Au and V/Al/V/Au Contacts to Plasma-Etched n-Al0.58Ga0.42N

Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy was used to study annealed Ti/Al/Ti/Au and V/Al/V/Au ohmic contacts to as-received and plasma-etched n-Al_0.58Ga_0.42N. The reaction depth of low-resistance V-based contacts to as-received n-Al_0.58Ga_0.42N is very limited, unlike previously reported Ti-based contacts to n-Al _x Ga_1−x N. In the present study, the Ti/Al/Ti/Au contacts to as-received n-Al_0.58Ga_0.42N required much higher annealing temperatures than the V-based contacts and also exhibited deeper reactions on the␣order of 40 nm. To achieve a low contact resistance on plasma-etched n-Al_0.58Ga_0.42N, different metal layer thicknesses and processing conditions were required. The Ti- and V-based contacts to plasma-etched n-Al_0.58Ga_0.42N exhibited both similar contact resistances and limited reaction depths, along with the presence of an aluminum nitride layer at the metallization/semiconductor interface. Metal channels penetrate the aluminum nitride layer connecting the top of the metallization to the n-Al_0.58Ga_0.42N. The similarity in phase formation in the contacts to plasma-etched n-Al_0.58Ga_0.42N is likely the reason behind the similarity in specific contact resistances.     

Application of photoluminescence spectroscopy to studies of In0.38Al0.62As/In0.38Ga0.62As/GaAs metamorphic nanoheterostructures

The results of studies of the surface morphology, electrical parameters, and photoluminescence properties of In_0.38Al_0.62As/In_0.38Ga_0.62As/In_0.38Al_0.62As metamorphic nanoheterostructures on GaAs substrates are reported. Some micron-sized defects oriented along the [011] and \([0\bar 11]\) directions and corresponding to regions of outcropping of stacking faults are detected on the surface of some heterostructures. The Hall mobility and optical properties of the samples correlate with the surface defect density. In the photoluminescence spectra, four emission bands corresponding to the recombination of charge carriers in the InGaAs quantum well (1–1.2 eV), the InAlAs metamorphic buffer (1.8–1.9 eV), the GaAs/AlGaAs superlattice at the buffer-substrate interface, and the GaAs substrate are detected. On the basis of experimentally recorded spectra and self-consistent calculations of the band diagram of the structures, the compositions of the alloy constituents of the heterostructures are established and the technological variations in the compositions in the series of samples are determined.     

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.     

Super-flat interfaces in In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.52Al0.48As quantum wells grown on (411)A InP substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

Effectively atomically flat interfaces over a macroscopic area (“(411)A super-flat interfaces”) were successfully achieved in In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.52Al_0.48As quantum wells (QWs) grown on (411)A InP substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) at a substrate temperature of 570°C and V/III=6. Surface morphology of the In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.52Al_0.48As QWs was smooth and featureless, while a rough surface of those simultaneously grown on a (100) InP substrate was observed. Photoluminescence (PL) linewidths at 4.2 K from the (411)A QWs with well width of 0.6–12 nm were 20–30 % narrower than those grown on a (100) InP substrate and also they are almost as narrow as each of split PL peaks for those of growth-interrupted QWs on a (100) InP substrate. In the case of the (411)A QWs, only one PL peak with very narrow linewidth was observed from each QW over a large distance (7 mm) on a wafer.     

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.     

Investigation of impact ionization and flicker noise properties in indium aluminum arsenide/indium gallinum arsenide metamorphic high electron mobility transistors with various work function-gate metals

This study investigates the effect of impact ionization using Ir, Pt, Pd, Ti gate metals and the direct correlation between these high work function metals and low frequency noise (LFN) on an In_0.4Al_0.6As/In_0.4Ga_0.6As metamorphic high electron mobility transistor (MHEMT). The effect of impact ionization on DC, RF, and cryogenic LFN is systematically studied and discussed. Gate metals with high work functions are used to suppress the kink effect and gate leakage current. Experimental results suggest that the Ir gate MHEMT exhibits superior thermal stable properties in a strong electrical field at various temperatures, associated with high gain, high current, and excellent low-frequency noise performance.     

Hall and photoluminescence studies of effects of the thickness of an additional In0.3Ga0.7As layer in the center of In0.15Ga0.85As/Al0.25Ga0.75As/GaAs high electron mobility transistors

In order to reduce the noise and carrier–donor scattering and thereby increase the carrier mobility of the pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs high electron mobility transistors (pHEMTs), we have grown Al_0.25Ga_0.75As/In_0.15Ga_0.85As/In_0.3Ga_0.7As/GaAs pHEMTs with varied In_0.3Ga_0.7As thickness, and studied the effects of the In_0.3Ga_0.7As thickness on the electron mobility and sheet density by Hall measurements and photoluminescence measurements. We calculated the electron and hole subbands and obtained good agreement between calculated and measured PL energies. It was found that the additional In_0.3Ga_0.7As layer could be used to reduce the carrier–donor scattering, but due to the increased interface roughness as the In_0.3Ga_0.7As layer becomes thicker, the interface scattering reduced the electron mobility. An optimal thickness of the In_0.3Ga_0.7As was found to be 2 nm.     

Electrical behavior of modulation-and delta-doped Al x Ga1 − x As/In y Ga1 − y As/GaAs PHEMT structures

Modulation-and delta-doped Al_xGa_{1 ? x} As/In_yGa_{1 ? y} As/GaAs PHEMT structures are grown by MBE. The effect is examined of changes in the technique and level of doping on the electrical behavior of the structures. Photoluminescence spectroscopy combined with Hall-effect measurements is shown to be an effective strategy for the purpose. The experimental results are interpreted on the basis of calculated conductionband diagrams.     

Type I and Type II Alignment of the Light Hole Band in In0.15Ga0.85As/GaAs and in ln0.15Ga0.85As/Al0.15Ga0.85As Strained Quantum Wells

We present results of photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence measurements of strained undoped In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs and In_0.15Ga_0.85As/Al_0.15Ga_0.85As quantum well structures, designed to throw light on the current controversy over light-hole band alignment at low In content. We compare these data with theoretical calculations of the confined state energies within the eight band effective mass approximation. Our analysis shows that for In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs, the observed two transitions are consistent with either type I or type II alignment of the light hole band for band offset ratios within the accepted range. In the case of In_0.15Ga_0.85As/Al_0.15Ga_0.85As, however, our results clearly indicate type II alignment for the light hole band. We derive the band offset ratio Q, defined here as Q = δE_c/δE_g where δE_c is the conduction band offset and δE_g is the bandgap difference between the quantum well and the barrier in the presence of strain, for the In_0.15Ga_0.85As/Al_0.15Ga_0.85As system to be Q = 0.83 and discuss it in the context of the common anion rule.     

20-nm enhancement-mode metamorphic GaAs HEMT with highly doped InGaAs source/drain regions for high-frequency applications

In this article, the DC and RF performance of a SiN passivated 20-nm gate length metamorphic high electron mobility transistor (MHEMT) on GaAs substrate with highly doped InGaAs source/drain (S/D) regions have investigated using the Synopsys TCAD tool. The 20-nm enhancement-mode (E-mode) MHEMT device also features δ-doped sheets on either side of the In_0.53Ga_0.47As/InAs/In_0.53Ga_0.47As channel which exhibits a transconductance of 3100 mS/mm, cut-off frequency (f_T) of 740 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency (f_max) of 1040 GHz. The threshold voltage of the device is found to be 0.07 V. The room temperature Hall mobilities of the 2-dimensional sheet charge density are measured to be over 12,600 cm²/Vs with a sheet charge density larger than 3.6 × 10¹² cm^?2. These high-performance E-mode MHEMTs are attractive candidates for sub-millimetre wave applications such as high-resolution radars for space research, remote atmospheric sensing, imaging systems and also for low noise wide bandwidth amplifier for future communication systems.     

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.     

Analysis of 14nm technology node In0.53Ga0.47As nFinFET integrated with In0.52Al0.48As cap layer for high-speed circuits

CMOS (Complementary Metal-oxide-semiconductor) based high-speed applications in the sub-14 nm technology node using InGaAs Fin field-effect-transistors (FinFETs) confront with inevitable effect in form of interface traps upon integration of dielectric layer with InGaAs material. In this work, we have explored the impact of the traps on short channel effects (SCEs) and a technique of abating the effect of interface traps by introducing In_0.52Al0.₄₈As cap layer. Proposed work reforms the device by varying the cap layer thickness (Tcap), doping concentrations of cap layer and underlap region. The effect of traps on intrinsic delay, work function variation and SCEs was investigated to assess the trend on devices with In_0.52Al_0.48As cap layer. It has been observed that introduction of Tcap improves SCEs and helps to mitigate the effect of interface traps. SCEs can be additionally diminished by presenting underlap fin length at the cost of higher delay. The experimental results show the value of subthreshold swing = 149.54 mV/decade, drain-induced barrier lowering = 38.5 mV V^?1 and delay = 1.1 ps for T_cap = 4 nm without underlap fin length structure for traps concentration of 10¹² cm^?2eV^?1. Thus, significant improvement has been seen in SCEs and delay performance in FinFET structure with cap layer.     

High Performance (fT~500GHZ) In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As/InP Quantum Wire MODFETs Employing Asymmetric Coupled-Well Channels

A coupled-well InAlAs/InGaAs quantum wire MODFET structure is proposed, for which simulations predict improved frequency performance (>500 GHz), over a wider range of V_g, as compared to well/wire devices with a standard MODFET heterointerface. A comparison of several transverse potential well profiles, obtained by varying the placement of a thin barrier within a 100 Å finite well, is presented. In all cases, the quantum wires consist of a 0.1 μm long channel and a 150 Å finite-square-well lateral profile. It has been found that the peak of the electron distribution for the first confined state, as measured from the heterointerface, changes dramatically depending on the location of the thin barrier. For quantum wire structures, realized in the lattice matched system of In_0.52Al_0.48As/In_0.53Ga_0.47As/InP, a change in the barrier location of 25 Å is accompanied by a shift in the carrier peak of more than 40 Å (~20 Å closer to or farther from the spacer-well interface than in the standard MODFET profile). Implications of this are reflected in the current-voltage characteristics (I_d-V_d) and frequency responses (f_T-V_g) of the proposed structures.     

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.     

Comparative assessment of InGaAs sub-channel and InAs composite channel double gate (DG)-HEMT for sub-millimeter wave applications

This work analyses the impact of channel material, channel thickness (T_CH) and gate length (L_g) on the various performance device metrics of Double-gate (DG) High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) by using 2D Sentaurus TCAD simulation. A comparison between In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In_0.7Ga_0.3As/In_0.53Ga_0.47As sub-channel and In_0.7Ga_0.3As/InAs/In_0.7Ga_0.3As composite channel DG-HEMT along with SG-HEMT is made by characterizing the device with structural and geometrical parameters suitable for applications requiring high frequency operations. The DG-In_0.53Ga_0.7As/In_0.7Ga_0.3As/In_0.53Ga_0.7As sub-channel/DG-In_0.7Ga_0.3As/InAs/In_0.7Ga_0.3As composite channel HEMT with channel thickness of 13 nm and barrier thickness (T_B) of 2 nm with L_g = 30 nm are seen offering a positive threshold voltage (V_T) of 0.298/0.21 V, transconductance (g_m) of 3.09/3.3 mS/µm, with cut-off frequency (f_T) and maximum oscillation frequency (f_max) of 776/788 GHz and 905/978 GHz, respectively at V_ds = 0.5 V is obtained. If the channel thickness of the DG-InAs composite channel device is scaled and reduced to 10 nm, the RF performances are further enhanced to 809 GHz (f_T) and 1030 GHz (f_max). Compared to DG-InGaAs sub-channel device, the device with thin DG-InAs composite channel device shows a better performance in terms of drain current (I_ds), analog/RF performance thereby making it preferable for future THz applications.     

A study of alloyed AuGeNi/Ag/Au based ohmic contacts on the Al0.48In0.52As/Ga0.47In0.53As system

Very low resistance alloyed NiGeAuAgAu ohmic contacts have been fabricated to the Al_0.48In_0.52As/Ga_0.47In_0.53As heterosystem. A thin capping layer of GalnAs was used to inhibit Al oxidation at the surface. Unlike NiGeAgAu ohmic metallization containing ≈;25% Ag commonly used for contacting GaAs based semiconductors at Cornell, the Ag concentraiton was reduced to ≈;10%. AES/sputtering depth profiles indicated that this allowed controlled dissolution of the nonconducting AlInAs top layer by the metallization which eventually interacted with the GalnAs without depleting it of In due to the strong Ag-In affinity. The stoichiometry of the conducting GalnAs, in contact with the reacted metals, was thus maintained and this yielded specific transfer resistances ≈;0.06 ohm · mm, the lowest to date.