High-transconductance heterostructure Ga0.47In0.53As/InP metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistorsgrown by chemical beam epitaxy

SiO₂ insulator is on top of an InP layer; current transport occurs, however, an in adjacent n-type Ga_0.47In_0.53As:Sn layer. A transconductance of g_m=300 mS/mm is obtained from depletion-mode MISFETs with a gate length of 1.2 μm. This MIS (metal-insulator-semiconductor) junction has a symmetric current-voltage characteristic and a low-leakage current of ~1 nA at ±2 V. High-frequency S-parameter measurements performed b probing devices on the wafers yield a unity current gain frequency of F _t=22.2 GHz and a maximum frequency of oscillation f _max=27 GHz     

High-speed Ga0.47In0.53As/InP infra-redSchottky-barrier photodiodes

The authors report a new high-speed InP-based Ga_1-xIn _xAs infra-red Schottky-barrier photodiode. The photodiodes were fabricated on both p- and n-GaInAs epilayers using Schottky barrier height enhancement technology. The response speed was measured by the impulse response and autocorrelation method; the risetimes of 85 ps for p-GaInAs and 180 ps for n-GaInAs photodiodes were obtained, which correspond to the 3 dB cutoff frequency of 2-4 GHz. The intrinsic response speed was 12 GHz for n-GaInAs and 18 GHz for p-GaInAs photodiodes based on SPICE simulation with measured device parameters. The photodiodes had the responsivity as high as 0.55 A/W and the quantum efficiency of up to 45% at 1.3-1.6 μm without antireflection coating     

Disordering of Ga0.47In0.53As/InP multiplequantum well layers by sulphur diffusion

The disordering of Ga_0.47In_0.53As/InP MQW layers by the diffusion of sulphur is reported for the first time. Photoluminescence measurements indicate that this results in a larger bandgap material. SIMS profiles show that intermixing of both group III and V elements occurs between wells and barriers     

Low-temperature DC characteristics of pseudomorphic Ga0.18In0.82P/InP/Ga0.47In0.53As HEMT

A high-gap strained GaInP material chosen to increase Schottky barrier height on InP is discussed. This material has been used for the first time in high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) fabrication on InP. For these devices the best g_m of a 1.3-μm gate HEMT is 300 mS/mm. Transistors of 3-μm gate length are studied at low temperature (100 to 293 K). Their DC electrical characteristics improve upon cooling. The best improvement is measured at the lowest temperature (+54% for g_m at 105 K). The structure is stable and does not present any g_m or I_ds collapse at low temperature, unlike AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures     

High-speed Ga0.47In0.53As MISIMphotodetectors with dielectric-assisted Schottky barriers

A technique is described for fabricating high-speed metal-insulator-semiconductor-insulator-metal (MISIM) photodetectors for high-speed fiber-optic systems. These devices make use of a Langmuir-Blodgett film enhanced Schottky barrier to achieve broadband linear response to 13 GHz at low bias voltage (5 V) with ~0.9 A/W external responsivity, 15 V breakdown voltage, and ~2 μA dark current. A gain of about 2 and a 5% tail in the temporal response are analyzed. The needed bias and the device processing are compatible with those for integrated receivers     

Ga0.47In0.53As depletion mode MISFETs withnegligible drain current drift

Ga_0.47In_0.53As depletion-mode metal insulator semiconductor field-effect transistors with a transconductance in the range 100-140 mS/mm and with no significant current drift (less than 3% in 30 hours) have been fabricated on epitaxial layers grown by MOCVD. This high performance has been achieved using an efficient passivation of the GaInAs surface which associates in situ native oxide removal by a hydrogen multipolar plasma and a Si₃N₄ film deposition     

Resonant tunnelling in Ga0.47In0.53As/InPdouble-barrier structures grown by AP-MOCVD

Reports the first observation of negative-differential resistance in Ga_0.47In_0.53As/InP double-barrier structures grown by AP-MOCVD. The devices exhibit the largest peak/valley current ratios seen in this system; 1.2:1 (2.8:1) and 3.0:1 (5.5:1) at 77 K (4.2 K) for the n=1 and n=2 resonances respectively     

High mobility two-dimensional electron gas inInP/Ga0.47In0.53As heterojunctions grown bylow-pressure organometallic vapour phase epitaxy

The two-dimensional electron gas in InP/GaInAs heterojunctions, grown by LP-OMVPE, showed Hall mobilities as high as 164000 and 103000 cm²/Vs at 4 K and 80 K, respectively. A maximum Hall mobility of 172000 cm²/Vs was measured at 20 K. Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations measured at 200 mK in magnetic fields up to 20 T indicated the total absence of parallel conduction. By illuminating the sample it was possible to populate the second electrical sub-band at a total carrier density n_s=4.4×10¹¹ cm^-2     

Diffusion-induced disordering ofGa0.47In0.53As/InP multiple quantum wells withzinc

Diffusing zinc into Ga_0.47In_0.53As/InP MQW layers is found to cause strong intermixing of the group III elements, which changes the composition in the quantum wells and barriers. As a result of this disordering the MQW bandgap is reduced in energy and the photoluminescence emission peak moves to longer wavelength     

Proton bombardment in n- and p-type Ga0.47In0.53As

Ga_0.47In_0.53As epitaxial layers on InP substrate have been subjected to proton bombardment. The resistivity increases up to 10⁴Ω cm for 10¹⁴H⁺/cm² in p-type and 3 · 10¹⁶H⁺/cm² in n-type a_0.47In_0.53As implanted at 77 K. Proton bombardment at 300 K showed this increase in resistivity only for p-type material. Channeling experiments indicated that the damage of the lattice which seems to be responsible for the resistivity increase of n-material can be produced only at low temperature with doses of the order of 10¹⁶H⁺/cm². Crystalline layers implanted with high dose showed blistering effects after heat treatments.     

Al0.48In0.52As/Ga0.47In0.53As resonant tunnelling diodes with large current peak/valley ratio

Resonant tunnelling diodes consisting of an MBE-grown AlInAs barrier on each side of a lattice-matched GaInAs well have been fabricated. Current peak/valley ratios up to 7.1 and 39 have been measured at 300 K and 77 K, respectively. These represent the largest values reported to date in any double-barrier, single-well device. The enhanced peak/valley ratio has been attributed to thick barriers (72 Å) and wide, undoped GaInAs spacer layers (400 Å)     

Relaxation of hot carriers in undoped and n-doped Ga0.47In0.53As generated by subpicosecond pulses

The cooling process of hot carriers in bulk Ga_0.47In_0.53As at 30 K is studied with subpicosecond time resolution. The time-dependence of the sample transmission at a wavelength of 1265 nm is measured after the generation of charge carriers with an excess energy ω-E_g in the order of 200 meV and at densities of up to 7 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³. In an undoped sample, an almost double-exponential relaxation of the transmission change is found with time constants of about 1 ps and 10 ps, respectively. In contrast, a nearly single-exponential time behavior is observed in a n-doped sample with a time constant of 3 ps. The experimental data agree well with the results of model calculations that do not take into account “hot” phonon reabsorption by the carriers. The model reproduces the approximately double-exponential transmission relaxation of the undoped sample. The two time constants can be attributed to the population change of either the conduction or the heavy hole valence band states that are probed by the light pulses. The experimental data can be explained without assuming different temperatures of the electrons and the holes during the cooling process.     

Self-alignedIn0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As heterojunction bipolar transistors with graded interface onsemi-insulating InP grown by molecular beam epitaxy

A self aligned In_0.52Al_0.48As/In_0.53 Ga_0.47As double heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) with a graded heterointerface has been grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) and tested. The DC characteristics of HBT structures with a compositionally graded junction using a linear graded In_0.53Ga_0.47-xAl_xAs between two ternary layers were investigated. Typical quaternary graded devices with an emitter dimension of 50×50 μm² exhibited a current gain as high as 1260, as compared to 800 for abrupt devices, at a collector current density of 2.8×10³ A/cm²     

Ga0.47In0.53As metal-semiconductor-metalphotodiodes using a lattice mismatchedAl0.4Ga0.6As Schottky assist layer

Metal-semiconductor-metal photodiodes (MSM PDs) with Ga_0.47 In_0.53As active layers were fabricated. The low Schottky barrier height of GaInAs was overcome by the insertion of a lattice mismatched AlGaAs intermediary layer between metal and GaInAs active layer. Fabricated MSM PDs utilising interdigitated metal electrodes formed by a self-alignment technique showed a fast rise and fall time of 650 ps, which was limited by the capacitance of the device. The gain of the device was less than 1     

High-performance InP/In0.53Ga0.47As/InPdouble HBTs on GaAs substrates

InP/In_0.53Ga_0.47As/InP double heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) were grown on GaAs substrates. A 140 GHz power-gain cutoff frequency f_max and a 207 GHz current-gain cutoff frequency f_τ were obtained, presently the highest reported values for metamorphic HBTs. The breakdown voltage BV_CEO was 5.5 V, while the dc current gain β was 76. High-thermal-conductivity InP metamorphic buffer layers were employed in order to minimize the device-thermal resistance     

InP/In0.53Ga0.47As heterojunction phototransistors grown by chemical beam epitaxy

We describe InP/In0.53Ga0.47As heterojunction phototransistors (HPT's) grown by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE). These devices exhibit high gain ( > 150) at signal levels as low as - 50 dBm. Compared to earlier devices of this type, the gain is relatively independent of the optical signal level. This is due primarily to the improved quality of the emitter-base heterojunction interface which, for these HPT's, is characterized by an ideality factor of 1.14. At an incident power level of -21 dBm the bandwidth is 14 MHz and the gain-bandwidth product is 4.8 GHz.     

Highly sensitive In0.53Ga0.47As/InP Hallsensors grown by MOVPE

High performance InP/InGaAs Hall sensors appropriate for applications requiring high sensitivity at low power dissipation, good linearity, low temperature sensitivity, and high resolution are reported. The layer structures grown by MOVPE combine a high mobility In _0.53Ga_0.47As channel with isolation by semi-insulating InP. With this design bias current related sensitivities up to 760 V/AT at sheet resistances below 840 Ω/square have been achieved, allowing high output signals at low power dissipation. Due to the active layer isolation by semi-insulating InP, bias currents are not limited by channel pinch-off or junction breakdown. This leads to absolute sensitivities as high as 12.5 V/T. Linearity errors are lower than -0.8% up to magnetic fields of 0.5 T. Temperature coefficients of the sensitivity were measured for different donor concentrations of the active layer. The lowest value of -0.07%/K was found for a doping of 10 ¹⁶ cm^-3, in accordance with theoretical predictions. High signal-to-noise ratios corresponding to minimal detectable fields of 50 nT/Hz^l/2 and 160 nT/Hz^l/2, respectively, were measured at 1 kHz and 100 Hz     

In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As double-heterojunction p-n-p bipolar transistors grown bymolecular beam epitaxy

P-n-p In_0.52Al_0.48As/In_0.53Ga_0.47 As double-heterojunction bipolar transistors with a p⁺-InAs emitter cap layer grown by molecular-beam epitaxy have been realized and tested. A five-period 15-Å-thick In_0.53Ga_0.47As/InAs superlattice was incorporated between the In_0.53Ga_0.47As and InAs cap layer to smooth out the valence-band discontinuity. Specific contact resistance of 1×10^-5 and 2×10^-6 Ω-cm² were measured for nonalloyed emitter and base contacts, respectively. A maximum common emitter current gain of 70 has been measured for a 1500-Å-thick base transistor at a collector current density of 1.2×10³ A/cm². Typical current gains of devices with 50×50-μm² emitter areas were around 50 with ideality factors of 1.4     

High-frequency performance of metamorphic InP/In0.53Ga0.47As/InP DHBT in common base configuration on GaAs substrates

In this work, we report the detailed high-frequency noise and power characterization of metamorphic InP double heterojunction bipolar transistors in common base configuration. The noise and power performances were investigated for 5×10 μm² device. A minimum noise figure of 2.3 dB with an associated gain of 14.5 dB at 2 GHz, and a maximum output power of 13.0 dBm with a power added efficiency of 47.8% at 2.4 GHz were obtained.     

A self-aligned In0.53Ga0.47As junction field-effect transistor grown by molecular beam epitaxy

An In0.53Ga0.47As field-effect transistor has been fabricated on MBE-grown material, using a novel self-alignment technique. This device has a dc transconductance of 60 mS/mm for a 3-µm gate length, one of the highest reported figures for such a length, and a very low gate leakage of 100 nA at -3-V gate bias.