Measurement of Minority Charge Carrier Diffusion Length in Gallium Nitride Nanowires Using Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC)

Abstract

Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) measurements were performed on GaN nanowires to determine minority charge carrier diffusion length, Ld. Although EBIC has been used to characterize bulk and thin film materials, very little is known about near contact transport in GaN nanowires. The results obtained from EBIC will be compared against those obtained from a novel Nearfield Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM) method developed at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) that provides an alternative method for the determination of Ld. Two types of nanowires were investigated: n-type GaN/AlGaN (core-shell) nanowires and unintentionally doped (UID) n-type GaN uncoated nanowires. By exciting the nanowires using an electron beam in the SEM, the EBIC signal collected at the metal-semiconductor Schottky contact represents a diffusive current. Diffusion length can then be extracted from the spatial variation of the EBIC signal. The diffusion length of holes in the GaN/AlGaN wires was measured to be 1.2 micron +/- 22% and the diffusion length of holes in the UID GaN uncoated wires was measured to be 0.40 micron +/- 24%. The results demonstrate the dependence of diffusion length on the diameter and surface behavior of the nanowire.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA514368

Entities

People

  • Chiou P. Ong

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Charge Carriers
  • Compound Semiconductors
  • Electron Beams
  • Electronics Industry
  • Electronics Laboratories
  • Electrons
  • Energy Bands
  • Materials
  • Materials Science
  • Metal-Semiconductor Junctions
  • Microscopy
  • Modules (Electronics)
  • Nanoscale Devices
  • Semiconductor Devices
  • Semiconductors
  • Three Dimensional
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Nanoscale Plasmonic Nanotechnology
  • Semiconductor Device Technology

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Microelectronics