Anisotropic elastic scattering of stripe/line-shaped scatters to two-dimensional electron gas: Model and illustrations in a nonpolar AlGaN/GaN hetero-junction

Abstract

In a semiconductor hetero-junction, the stripe/line-shaped scatters located at the hetero-interface lead to the anisotropic transport of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). The elastic scattering of infinitely long and uniform stripe/line-shaped scatters to 2DEG is theoretically investigated based on a general theory of anisotropic 2DEG transport [J. Schliemann and D. Loss, Phys. Rev. B 68(16), 165311 (2003)], and the resulting 2DEG mobility along the applied electrical field is modeled to be a function of the angle between the field and the scatters. The anisotropy of the scattering and the mobility originate in essence from that the stripe/line-shaped scatters act upon the injecting two-dimensional wave vector by changing only its component perpendicular to the scatters. Three related scattering mechanisms in a nonpolar AlGaN/GaN hetero-junction are discussed as illustrations, including the striated morphology caused interface roughness scattering, and the polarization induced line charge dipole scattering and the misfit dislocation scattering at the AlGaN/GaN interface. Different anisotropic behaviors of the mobility limited by these scattering mechanisms are demonstrated, but analysis shows that all of them are determined by the combined effects of the anisotropic bare scattering potential and the anisotropic dielectric response of the 2DEG.