Г-L intervalley separation and electron mobility in GaAsSb grown on InP: Transport comparison with the GaInAs and GaInAsSb alloys

Abstract

GaAs0.51Sb0.49 is lattice-matched to InP and finds electron transport applications in base or absorber layers in high-speed heterostructure bipolar transistors or photodiodes, because its staggered (“type-II”) band alignment with InP favors electron injection across abrupt heterojunctions. Little remains known about electron transport properties and band structure details of GaAsxSb1−x near x = 0.5. Particularly, based on the Γ-L intervalley separation in binary constituents (ΔΓL = 84 meV in GaSb and 290 meV in GaAs at 300 K), interpolation suggests a low Γ-L separation in GaAs0.51Sb0.49 before considering energy gap bowing effects. To gain insight into electron transport in GaAs0.51Sb0.49, we characterized experimental Hall electron mobilities vs carrier concentration at 300 and 77 K in n-type GaAs0.51Sb0.49, Ga0.47In0.53As, and Ga0.76In0.24As0.67Sb0.33 alloys nearly matched to InP. In marked contrast to the other two alloys, GaAs0.51Sb0.49 exhibits a sharp rise in 77 K electron mobility, which evidences L-valley de-population for lower electron concentrations. A two-band transport analysis reveals a Γ-L valley separation ΔΓL = 91 meV at 77 K, significantly lower than values recommended in the literature. Based on the reported temperature variations of ΔΓL in GaAs and GaSb, 84 < ΔΓL < 95 meV is expected at 300 K. The corresponding GaAsxSb1−x L-valley bowing parameter is cL = 1.63 eV, significantly higher than the 1.1–1.2 eV recommended in the literature. In contrast to GaAsxSb1−x, GaInAsSb grown on InP displays a strong alloy scattering, which limits its low-temperature electron mobility.