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InGaN Thin Films Grown by ENABLE and MBE Techniques on Silicon Substrates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Lothar A. Reichertz
Affiliation:
LAReichertz@lbl.gov, ., ., ., ., FL, ., United States
Kin Man Yu
Affiliation:
KMYu@lbl.gov, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Materials Sciences Division, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
Yi Cui
Affiliation:
YICui@lbl.gov, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Materials Sciences Division, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
Michael E Hawkridge
Affiliation:
MEHawkridge@lbl.gov, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Materials Sciences Division, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
Jeffrey W Beeman
Affiliation:
jwbeeman@lbl.gov, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Materials Sciences Division, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
Zuzanna Liliental-Weber
Affiliation:
Z_Liliental-Weber@lbl.gov, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Materials Sciences Division, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
Joel W Ager III
Affiliation:
jwager@lbl.gov, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Materials Sciences Division, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
Wladyslaw Walukiewicz
Affiliation:
W_Walukiewicz@lbl.gov, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Materials Sciences Division, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
William J Schaff
Affiliation:
wjs2@cornell.edu, Cornell University, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
Todd L Williamson
Affiliation:
twilliamson@lanl.gov, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Chemistry Division, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, United States
Mark A. Hoffbauer
Affiliation:
mhoffbauer@lanl.gov, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Chemistry Division, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, United States
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Abstract

The prospect of developing electronic and optoelectronic devices, including solar cells, that utilize the wide range of energy gaps of InGaN has led to a considerable research interest in the electronic and optical properties of InN and In-rich nitride alloys. Recently, significant progress has been achieved in the growth and doping of InGaN over the entire composition range. In this paper we present structural, optical, and electrical characterization results from InGaN films grown on Si (111) wafers. The films were grown over a large composition range by both molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and the newly developed “energetic neutral atomic-beam lithography & epitaxy” (ENABLE) techniques. ENABLE utilizes a collimated beam of ∼2 eV nitrogen atoms as the active species which are reacted with thermally evaporated Ga and In metals. The technique provides a larger N atom flux compared to MBE and reduces the need for high substrate temperatures, making isothermal growth over the entire InGaN alloy composition range possible. Electrical characteristics of the junctions between n- and p-type InGaN films and n- and p-type Si substrates were measured and compared with theoretical predictions based on the band edge alignment between those two materials. The predicted existence of a low resistance tunnel junction between p-type Si and n-type InGaN was experimentally confirmed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

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References

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