Studies that had been started in 1971 were continued in the summer of 1972 in order to gather information on the intraglacial run-off system in the ablation region of Hintereisferner, In a long-term test of 30 h, the daily fluctuations of the inflow into a moulin and the discharge at the glacier mouth were measured. A number of injections of dye tracers were made to measure the curve of concentration versus time. Finally, a test was made to compare with last year's results, in which the inflow was marked with dye at three different points on the glacier. From the long-term measurements, the daily fluctuations of the average velocity of flow in the intraglacial run-off system and the dispersion coefficient were determined. The results confirm the experiments of last year, showing that the melt water reaches the glacier bed taking the shortest possible route without passing through cavities within the glacier, flowing mostly in an open channel.

The impact of device processing and plasma treatments at different plasma conditions on the electronic transport properties of GaN/AlGaN/GaN heterostructures was investigated as well as annealing in nitrogen atmosphere at 425°C. The electrical properties are characterized by Hall-effect measurements while electron spectroscopy and X-ray measurements are used to investigate changes in the surface chemical composition and in the layer structure, respectively. It is demonstrated that these layer structures are quite sensitive even to non-plasma based processing. Furthermore, treatments in SF6 and N2 based plasmas strongly affect the 2DEG properties of the heterostructure due to altering of the surface barrier accompanied by thinning of the layer structure. Depending on the layer structure and the plasma conditions used the electronic properties may be recovered by annealing.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011.

AlGaN/GaN pH sensitive devices were functionalized and passivated for the use as selective bio-sensors. For the passivation, a multilayer of SiO2 and SiNx is proposed, which stabilizes the pH-sensor, is biocompatible and has no negative impact on the following bio-functionalization. The functionalization of the GaN-surface was achieved by covalent bonding of 10-amino-dec-1-ene molecules by a photochemical process. After two different surface preparations islands of TFAAD are growing on the sensor surface by exposure with UV-light. In dependence on the surface pre-treatment and the illumination wavelength the first monolayer is completed after 3 h or 7 h exposure time dependent on the pre-treatment and illumination wavelength. Further exposure results in thicker films as a consequence of cross polymerization. The bonding to the sensor surface was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, while the thickness of the functionalization was determined by atomic force microscopy scratching experiments. These functionalized devices based on the pH-sensitive AlGaN/GaN ISFET will establish a new family of adaptive, selective biomolecular sensors such as selective, reusable DNA sensors.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at MC 2007, 33rd DGE Conference in Saarbrücken, Germany, September 2 – September 7, 2007

Hydrogen gas sensors based on Pt/GaN Schottky diode structures were fabricated and their responses to hydrogen were studied. These diodes were fabricated on Si doped GaN layer (ND = 1×1017). Three sets of diodes were fabricated with 80 Å, 240 Å and 400 Å of Pt for the Schottky contacts. The electronic performances of 0.25 × 0.25 mm devices were tested in up to 1 % H2 gas in synthetic air (79% N2, 21% O2) by volume. The devices were operated in constant current mode in a forward bias condition. The change in voltage was monitored with the diodes exposed to hydrogen and to dry air at varying temperatures. The responses increased as the thickness of the Schottky metal contact decreased at any given temperature up to 310 °C. The trend of increasing response with decreasing thickness was also observed in 0.5 × 0.5 mm and 1.0 × 1.0 mm size Schottky diodes. SEM studies of the microstructure showed that the thinner Pt devices had higher grain boundary densities. The increase in sensitivity with decreasing thickness points to the dissociation of molecular hydrogen on the surface, the diffusion of atomic hydrogen through the Pt grain boundaries and the adsorption of hydrogen to the surface as a possible mechanism of sensing of hydrogen by Schottky diodes.

Spectroscopic ellipsometry studies in the energy range from 0.7 up to 5.5 eV were carried out in order to determine the dielectric function (DF) of ‘narrow’ band gap (< 1 eV) single-crystalline InN films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on sapphire substrates. The imaginary part of the DF is characterized by a strong increase immediately above the band gap and then by a nearly constant value up to 4 eV. Pronounced structures above 4 eV are attributed to transitions along the L-M direction in the Brillouin-zone as a comparison with first-principles calculations indicates. In contrast, sputtered layers (band gap ∼1.9 eV) studied for comparison show a completely different spectral shape of the DF. Finally, DF's of high In-content InGaN alloys are presented, providing further evidence that InN is a “narrow” band gap semiconductor.

We have performed electroreflectance and photoreflectance studies of Pt/GaN Schottky diodes with Ga- and N-face polarity as well as AlGaN/GaN based transistor heterostructures. The experimental data were analyzed using electric field-dependent dielectric functions of GaN and AlGaN. Inhomogeneities in the electric fields were taken into account by application of a multi-layer formalism. We observed an increase of the electric field strength underneath the Schottky contact and in the AlGaN barrier with increasing temperature. The results are explained in terms of temperature dependent densities of ionized impurities and surface charges.

Ionization energies and electron affinities of clean AlxGa1−xN(0001) surfaces were investigated by ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy over the whole composition range. The samples were cleaned with cycles of N+-ion sputtering and annealing partly within a Ga atom flux. The ionization energy is measured as 6.5 eV and is almost independent of the aluminum content in good agreement with the general chemical trend. The electron affinity decreases linearly with composition from 3.1 eV for GaN to 0.25 eV for AlN. No evidence for negative electron affinity at AlN(0001) surfaces was found. Adsorption of oxygen at room temperature leads to a significant increase of the ionization energy and electron affinity. With AlN(0001) surfaces, an oxygen uptake of 0.6 monolayers is observed after exposures of 108 Langmuirs and the ionization energy increases by approximately 2 eV.

The present paper gives an overview over different sensor applications of GaN thin films and AlGaN/GaN heterostructures. The response of Pt-GaN Schottky diodes towards hydrogen and hydrogen containing gases is analysed and their gas sensitivity is characterized from room temperature up to 600°C. In addition, the sheet carrier density of a two dimensional electron gas confined at the heterointerface in AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) is shown to be significantly influenced by changes in the electronic properties of the device surface. This effect is successfully exploited for the realization of ion detectors and sensors for fluid monitoring based on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with non-metalized gate areas. Promising possibilities of fabricating monolithically integrated sensor devices for wireless signal transmission are demonstrated by the realization of SAW devices on epitaxial AlN-films.

Thick GaN films, grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE), were separated from their sapphire substrate with a laser-induced lift-off process. After cleaning and polishing, these films offer the most direct way to investigate and compare the influence of crystal polarity on the electronic properties of Ga-face and N-face surfaces, respectively. Different barrier heights for Pt Schottky diodes evaporated onto Ga- and N-face GaN are determined from the dependence of the effective barrier height versus ideality factor by I-V measurements to 1.15 eV and 0.80 eV, respectively. The charge neutrality condition at the surface is modified by the spontaneous polarization due to the polarization induced bound sheet charge. This effect has to be included in the electronegativity concept of metal induced gap states (MIGS) and can also be illustrated by different band bending of the conduction and valence band, inferred from the self-consistent solution of the Schrödinger-Poisson equation. Furthermore, temperature dependent I-V characteristics are compared to simulated behavior of Schottky diodes, exhibiting excellent agreement in forward direction, but showing deviations in the reverse current.

Free-standing GaN crystals are produced from 200-300 µn thick GaN films grown on 2 inch sapphire substrates by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. The GaN films are separated from the growth substrate by laser-induced liftoff, using a pulsed laser to thermally decompose a thin layer of GaN close to the film-substrate interface. The free-standing films are polished and used for the homoepitaxial growth of high quality GaN layers by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The structural and optical properties of the homoepitaxial films in comparison to layers grown on sapphire are significantly improved, mainly because of lower dislocation density and surface roughness as low as 5×106 cm2 and 0.2 nm, respectively.

Laser-induced thermal decomposition is also applied to achieve etching of GaN. At exposures of 500 mJ/cm2 with 355 nm light, etch rates of up to 90 nm for one pulse are obtained. Illumination with an interference grating is used to produce trenches as narrow as 100 nm or sinusoidal surface patterns with a period of 260 nm. Such surface morphologies are very useful for the processing of anti-reflection coatings or distributed Bragg reflectors.

The generation of high density 2D hole gases is crucial for further progress in the field of electronic and optoelectronic nitride devices. In this paper, we present results of C-V profiling measurements for N-face GaN/AlGaN heterostructures and systematic theoretical studies of Mg- doped GaN/AlGaN gated heterostructures and superlattices. Our calculations are based on a self- consistent solution of the multiband k.p Schrödinger and Poisson equation and reveal that the hole 2D sheet density is mainly determined by the polarization induced interface charges. For an Aluminium concentration of 30%, the induced hole density in the heterostructure can reach values up to 1.5×1013 cm−2. In the GaN/AlGaN superlattices, the hole sheet density increases with the superlattice period and saturates for a period of 40 nm at a value of 1.5×1013 cm−2.

Two dimensional hole and electron gases in wurtzite GaN/AlxGa1-xN/GaN heterostructures are induced by strong polarization induced effects. The sheet carrier concentration and the confinement of the two dimensional carrier gases located close to one of the AlGaN/GaN interfaces are sensitive to a high number of different physical properties such as polarity, alloy composition, strain, thickness and doping. We have investigated the structural quality, the carrier concentration profiles and electrical transport properties by a combination of high resolution x- ray diffraction, Hall effect and C-V profiling measurements. The investigated heterostructures with N- and Ga-face polarity were grown by metalorganic vapor phase or plasma induced molecular beam epitaxy covering a broad range of alloy compositions and barrier thickness. By comparison of theoretical and experimental results we demonstrate that the formation of two dimensional hole and electron gases in GaN/AlGaN/GaN heterostructures both rely on the difference of the polarization between the AlGaN and the GaN layer. In addition the role of polarity on the carrier accumulation at different interfaces in n- and p-doped heterostructures will be discussed in detail

Growth of AlInGaN/GaN heterostructures on sapphire substrates was achieved by plasma induced molecular beam epitaxy. Different alloy compositions were obtained by varying the growth temperature with constant Al, In, Ga and N fluxes. The In content in the alloy, measured by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy, increased from 0.4% to 14.5% when the substrate temperature was decreased from 775 to 665°C. X-Ray reciprocal space maps of asymmetric AlInGaN (2.05) reflexes were used to measure the lattice constants and to verify the lattice match between the quaternary alloy and the GaN buffer layers.

In this study thin AlxGa1−xN nucleation layers on sapphire were patterned and overgrown by plasma-induced molecular beam epitaxy (PIMBE) and metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) to obtain adjacent regions of GaN and AlGaN/GaN heterostructures with different polarities. The role of polarity on the structural and electrical properties of epitaxial layers and AlGaN/GaN heterostructures was investigated for samples grown on patterned AlN or GaN nucleation layers. Epitaxial GaN and AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on Al-face AlN or N- face GaN nucleation layers were found to be Ga-face or N-face, respectively, independent of the technique used for the overgrowth.

The strong spontaneous polarization and piezoelectric effects in the wurtzite IIInitride semiconductors lead to new possibilities for device design. In typical heterojunction field effect transistors these effects are used to create large electron concentrations at the AlGaN/GaN interface. However, we examine several other possible device structures which include heterojunctions of AlGaN, GaN, and InGaN. For example, we find the strong electric fields present in these structures allow us to create quantum wells greater than 1 eV deep. Both Ga-faced and N-faced materials are explored. The two-dimensional electron gas concentrations in these structures are found using a self-consistent 1-D Schrödinger-Poisson solver modified to incorporate the effects of spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization. The boundary conditions at the heterojunction interfaces and at the surface and substrate are discussed in detail. Electron concentrations are compared with those obtained experimentally through capacitance-voltage and Hall effect measurements.

Thin films of GaN and its alloy AlGaN are investigated with respect to their properties of the persistent photoconductivity (PPC). In this work, we show that the film-substrate interface plays an important role for the metastable electrical effect. Strongly absorbed bandgap light causes an increase of photoconductivity which is about one order of magnitude higher when the sample is illuminated from the substrate side near the interface than from the growth side. To access the interface properties at the substrate, we use temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements. The smallest PPC effect was observed for the GaN film with the best interface properties grown on SiC.

High quality Ga-face and N-face AlGaN/GaN based heterostructures have been grown by plasma induced molecular beam epitaxy. By using Ga-face material we are able to fabricate conventional heterojunction field effect transistors. Because the N-face material confines electrons at a different heterojunction, the resulting transistors are called inverted. The Ga-face structures use a high temperature AlN nucleation layer to establish the polarity. Structures from these materials, relying only on polarization induced interface charge effects to create the two-dimensional electron gases, are used to confirm the polarity of the material as well as test the electrical properties of the layers. The resulting sheet concentrations of the two dimensional electron gases agree very well with the piezoelectric theory for this materials system. Hall mobilities of the two-dimensional gases for the N-face structures are as high as 1150 cm2/Vs and 3440 cm2/Vs for 300 K and 77 K respectively, while the Ga–face structures yield room temperature mobilities of 1190 cm2/Vs. Both structures were then fabricated into transistors and characterized. The inverted transistors, which were fabricated from the N-face material, yielded a maximum transconductance of 130 mS/mm and a current density of 905 mA/mm. Microwave measurements gave an ft of 7 GHz and an fmax of 12 GHz for a gate length of 1 µm. The normal transistors, fabricated from the Ga-face material, produced a maximum transconductance of 247 mS/mm and a current density of 938 mA/mm. Microwave measurements gave an ft of 50 GHz and an fmax of 97 GHz for a gate length of 0.25 µm. This shows that using plasma induced molecular beam epitaxy N-face and Ga(Al)-face AlGaN/GaN heterostructures can be grown with structural and electrical properties very suitable for high power field effect transistors.

High quality Ga-face and N-face AlGaN/GaN based heterostructures have been grown by plasma induced molecular beam epitaxy. By using Ga-face material we are able to fabricate conventional heterojunction field effect transistors. Because the N-face material confines electrons at a different heterojunction, the resulting transistors are called inverted. The Ga-face structures use a high temperature AIN nucleation layer to establish the polarity. Structures from these materials, relying only on polarization induced interface charge effects to create the two-dimensional electron gases, are used to confirm the polarity of the material as well as test the electrical properties of the layers. The resulting sheet concentrations of the two dimensional electron gases agree very well with the piezoelectric theory for this materials system. Hall mobilities of the two-dimensional gases for the N-face structures are as high as 1150 cm2/Vs and 3440 cm2/Vs for 300 K and 77 K respectively, while the Ga-face structures yield room temperature mobilities of 1190 cm2/Vs. Both structures were then fabricated into transistors and characterized. The inverted transistors, which were fabricated from the N-face material, yielded a maximum transconductance of 130 mS/mm and a current density of 905 mA/mm. Microwave measurements gave an ft of 7 GHz and an fmax of 12 GHz for a gate length of 1 μm. The normal transistors, fabricated from the Ga-face material, produced a maximum transconductance of 247 mS/mm and a current density of 938 mA/mm. Microwave measurements gave an ft of 50 GHz and an fmax of 97 GHz for a gate length of 0.25 μm. This shows that using plasma induced molecular beam epitaxy N-face and Ga(A1)-face AlGaN/GaN heterostructures can be grown with structural and electrical properties very suitable for high power field effect transistors.