Pinning of energy transitions of defects, complexes, and surface states in AlGaN alloys

Abstract

In this work, we determine the dependence of the defect transition energies, electronic bands, and surface charge neutrality levels in AlGaN. With Vacuum level as reference, we show that energy transitions of localized defects and the surface Fermi level are independent of the alloy composition as electronic bands diverge with the increase in the bandgap as a function of alloy composition. The invariance of localized states on the alloy composition creates a convenient internal reference energy with respect to which other energy states may be measured. We demonstrate a higher generality to the universality rule with the independence of deep transition states of otherwise shallow donor type defects [(+1/+3) transition for VN] and defect complexes (CN+SiIII) in addition to the earlier predicted independent nature of mid-gap states when they are either the antibonding state between cationic impurities and host anion or acceptors at anion sites.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jan 21, 2020
Source ID
10.1063/1.5140995

Entities

People

  • Douglas L Irving
  • Isaac Bryan
  • James Tweedie
  • Ji Hyun Kim
  • Pramod Reddy
  • Ramón Collazo
  • Ronny Kirste
  • Seiji Mita
  • Shun Washiyama
  • Zachary Bryan
  • Zlatko Sitar

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Army Research Office
  • National Science Foundation
  • North Carolina State University
  • United States Department of Energy

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology
  • Theoretical Analysis.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene