The Role of Alloy Disorder in the Physical Properties of Group III Nitrides

Abstract

In recent years, it has become apparent that group III nitride alloys have fundamentally unexpected physical properties particularly when compared to alloys in conventional compound such as AlGaAs and elemental semiconductors such as SiGe. Namely, the group III nitride alloys AlGaN, InGaN, and InAlN, show behavior that strongly deviates from that expected from an average alloy. In the case of simple GaN-AlGaN-GaN stuctures, the expected barrier behavior of AlGaN is not observed, rather the AlGaN barrier allow percolative transport. This behavior is is attributed to potential fluctuations from the combination of natural alloy fluctuations combined with fluctuating space charge from polarization fluctuations. In the proposed program, we will study the impact of natural alloy fluctuations on Schottky barrier behavior for AlGaN, InGaN and InAlN. We will develop novel vertical test structures to study vertical hole transport in III nitride alloy heterostructures. Finally, we will use ammonia MBE and plasma assisted MBE to develop digital AlGaN alloys and explore the possible growth of digital InGaN and InAlN alloys.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Jan 14, 2022
Source ID
FA95501910090

Entities

People

  • James A. Speck

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • United States Air Force
  • University of California, Santa Barbara

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Powder metallurgy of Titanium alloys.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene
  • Space