Carrier diffusion in GaN -- a cathodoluminescence study. I: Temperature-dependent generation volume
Uwe Jahn, Vladimir M. Kaganer, Karl K. Sabelfeld, Anastasya E. Kireeva, Jonas Lähnemann, Carsten Pfüller, Timur Flissikowski, Caroline Chèze, Klaus Biermann, Ra… 展开作者
Uwe Jahn, Vladimir M. Kaganer, Karl K. Sabelfeld, Anastasya E. Kireeva, Jonas Lähnemann, Carsten Pfüller, Timur Flissikowski, Caroline Chèze, Klaus Biermann, Raffaella Calarco, Oliver Brandt
The determination of the carrier diffusion length of semiconductors such as GaN and GaAs by cathodoluminescence imaging requires accurate knowledge about the spatial distribution of generated carriers. To obtain the lateral distribution of generated carriers for sample temperatures between 10 and 300 K, we utilize cathodoluminescence intensity profiles measured across single quantum wells embedded in thick GaN and GaAs layers. Thin (Al,Ga)N and (Al,Ga)As barriers, respectively, prevent carriers diffusing in the GaN and GaAs layers to reach the well, which would broaden the profiles. The experimental cathodoluminescence profiles are found to be systematically wider than the energy loss distributions calculated by means of the Monte Carlo program CASINO, with the width monotonically increasing with decreasing temperature. This effect is observed for both GaN and GaAs and becomes more pronounced for higher acceleration voltages. We discuss this phenomenon in terms of both, the electron-phonon interaction controlling the energy relaxation of hot carriers, and the shape of the initial carrier distribution. Finally, we present a phenomenological approach to simulate the carrier generation volume that can be used for the investigation of the temperature dependence of carrier diffusion.
We determine the diffusion length of excess carriers in GaN by spatially resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy utilizing a single quantum well as carrier collector or carrier sink. Monochromatic intensity profiles across the quantum well are recorded for temperatures between 10 and 300 K. A classical diffusion model accounts for the profiles acquired between 120 and 300 K, while for temperatures lower than 120 K, a quantum capture process has to be taken into account in addition. Combining the diffusion length extracted from these profiles and the effective carrier lifetime measured by tim…
The strain field of a dislocation emerging at a free surface is partially relaxed to ensure stress free boundary conditions. We show that this relaxation strain at the outcrop of edge threading dislocations in GaN{0001} gives rise to a piezoelectric volume charge. The electric field produced by this charge distribution is strong enough to dissociate free excitons at distances over 100 nm from the dislocation line. We evaluate the impact of this effect on cathodoluminescence images of dislocations.
We investigate the impact of threading dislocations with an edge component (a or a+c-type) on carrier recombination and diffusion in GaN(0001) layers close to the surface as well as in the bulk. To this end, we utilize cathodoluminescence imaging of the top surface of a GaN(0001) layer with a deeply buried (In,Ga)N quantum well. Varying the acceleration voltage of the primary electrons and comparing the signal from the layer and the quantum well enables us to probe carrier recombination at depths ranging from the close vicinity of the surface to the position of the quantum well. Our experiment…
We investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, the drift, diffusion, and recombination of excitons in the strain field of an edge threading dislocation intersecting the GaN{0001} surface. We calculate and measure hyperspectral cathodoluminescence maps around the dislocation outcrop for temperatures between 10 to 200 K. Contrary to common belief, the cathodoluminescence intensity contrast is only weakly affected by exciton diffusion, but is caused primarily by exciton dissociation in the piezoelectric field at the dislocation outcrop. Hence, the extension of the dark spots around disloc…
Precise control of doping in single nanowires (NWs) is essential for the development of NW-based devices. Here, we investigate a series of MBE-grown GaAs NWs with Be (p-type) and Si (n-type) doping using high-resolution cathodoluminescence (CL) mapping at low- and room-temperature. CL spectra are analyzed selectively in different regions of the NWs. Room-temperature luminescence is fitted with the generalized Planck law and an absorption model, and the bandgap and band tail width are extracted. For Be-doped GaAs NWs, the bandgap narrowing provides a quantitative determination of the hole conce…
Doping is a fundamental property of semiconductors and constitutes the basis of modern microelectronic and optoelectronic devices. Their miniaturization requires contactless characterization of doping with nanometer scale resolution. Here, we use low- and room-temperature cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements to analyze p-type and n-type GaAs thin films over a wide range of carrier densities ($2\times 10^{17}$ to $1\times 10^{19}$ cm$^{-3}$). The spectral shift and broadening of CL spectra induced by shallow dopant states and band filling are the signature doping. We fit the whole spectral lin…
Crystallographic point defects (PDs) can dramatically decrease the efficiency of optoelectronic semiconductor devices, many of which are based on quantum well (QW) heterostructures. However, spatially resolving individual non-radiative PDs buried in such QWs has so far not been demonstrated. Here, using high-resolution cathodoluminescence (CL) and a specific sample design, we spatially resolve, image, and analyse non-radiative PDs in InGaN/GaN QWs. We identify two different types of PD by their contrasting behaviour with temperature, and measure their densities from $10^{14}$ cm$^{-3}$ to as h…
We present a study of undoped AlGaN/GaN separate confinement heterostructures designed to operate as electron beam pumped ultraviolet lasers. We discuss the effect of spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization on carrier diffusion, comparing the results of cathodoluminescence with electronic simulations of the band structure and Monte Carlo calculations of the electron trajectories. Carrier collection is significantly improved using an asymmetric graded-index separate confinement heterostructure (GRINSCH). The graded layers avoid potential barriers induced by polarization differences in the he…
The effect of film morphology on its surface chemistry and band structure has been analyzed for gallium nitride epitaxial films grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The film morphology has been studied using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, and the bandstructure, defect and emission properties have been studied by X ray photoelectron spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. It was found that the highly porous GaN nanowall network shows the highest relative conductivity and does not have defect related luminescence. The flatter films were more resistive and showed…
Spectroscopic Signature of Local Alloy Fluctuations in InGaN/GaN Multi-Quantum-Disk Light Emitting Diode Heterostructures and Its Impact on the Optical Performance
The present work investigates the less explored thermoelectric properties of n-type GaN semiconductors by combined both the experimental and computational tools. Seebeck coefficients of epitaxial thin films of GaN were experimentally measured in the wide temperature range from 77 K to 650 K in steps of ~10 K covering both low and high-temperature regimes as a function of carrier concentration 2 x1016, 2 x 1017, 4 x 1017 and 8 x 1017 cm-3. The measured Seebeck coefficient at room temperature was found to be highest, -374 microV/K, at the lowest concentration of 4 x 1016 cm-3 and decreases in ma…
Cathodoluminescence spectra were measured to determine the characteristics of luminescence bands and carrier dynamics in beta-Ga2O3 bulk single crystals. The CL emission was found to be dominated by a broad UV emission peaked at 3.40 eV, which exhibits strong quenching with increasing temperature; however, its spectral shape and energy position remain virtually unchanged. We observed a super-linear increase of CL intensity with excitation density; this kinetics of carrier recombination can be explained in terms of carrier trapping and charge transfer at Fe impurity centres. The temperature-dep…
We present net gain measurements at room temperature in Al$_{0.07}$Ga$_{0.93}$N/GaN 10-period multi-quantum well emitting at 367 nm, using the variable stripe length method. Measurements were conducted at two different positions on the sample, where the net gain threshold was attained at 218 kW/cm$^{2}$ and 403 kW/cm$^{2}$. At the position with higher threshold, we observed an anomalous amplification of the photoluminescence intensity that occurs for long stripe lengths (superior to 400 $μ$m) and high pumping power (superior to 550 kW/cm$^{2}$), leading to an overestimation of the gain value. …
Time-dependent femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopic ellipsometry studies on zincblende gallium-nitride (zb-GaN) are performed and analyzed between 2.9-3.7eV. An ultra-fast change of the absorption onset (3.23eV for zb-GaN) is observed by investigating the imaginary part of the dielectric function. The 266nm (4.66eV) pump pulses induce a large free-carrier concentration up to $4\times 10^{20}$cm$^{-3}$, influencing the transition energy between conduction and valence bands due to many-body effects, like band filling and band gap renormalization, up to $\approx$500meV. Additionally, the absorpti…
Stable partial dislocation complexes in GaN as charge carrier lifetime modifiers for terahertz device applications by molecular dynamics and first-principle simulations
V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine（乌克兰国家科学院V.拉什卡廖夫半导体物理研究所）；Educational Scientific Institute of High Technologies, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv（基辅塔拉斯舍甫琴科国立大学高等技术教育科学研究所）；National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”（乌克兰国立伊戈尔·西科尔斯基基辅理工学院）；University of Rome “Tor Vergata”（罗马托维尔加塔大学）
The wide bandgap, high-breakdown electric field, and high carrier mobility makes GaN an ideal material for high-power and high-frequency electronics applications such as wireless communication and radar systems. However, the performance and reliability of GaN-based HEMTs are limited by the high channel temperature induced by Joule-heating in the device channel. High thermal conductivity substrates integrated with GaN can improve the extraction of heat from GaN based HEMTs and lower the device operating temperature. However, heterogeneous integration of GaN with diamond substrates is not trivia…
Weak antilocalization and zero-field electron spin splitting in AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructures with a polarization induced two-dimensional electron gas
A theoretical investigation of the excess energy dissipation of highly excited photoinjected electrons in both wurtzite and zincblende GaN is presented. The calculations are performed by solving numerically coupled quantum transport equations for the carriers and the acoustic, transversal and longitudinal optical phonon in order to derive the evolution of their nonequilibrium temperatures, dubbed quasi-temperatures. It is shown that the electron energy dissipation is always faster in the wurtzite structure than in zincblende, both occurring in a subpicosecond time scale (< 0.2 ps).
In this paper, we present a collection of results focussing on the transport properties of doped direct-gap inverted-band highly polar III-nitride semiconductors (GaN, AlN, InN) and GaAs in the transient and steady state, calculated by using nonlinear quantum kinetic theory based on a non-equilibrium statistical ensemble formalism (NESEF). In the present paper, these results are compared with calculations usingMonteCarlo modelling simulations and experimental measurements. Both n-type and p-type materials, in the presence of intermediate to high electric fields, are considered for several temp…
