Correlation between macroscopic transport parameters and microscopic electrical properties in GaN

Abstract

In GaN layers grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy on sapphire substrates the temperature-dependent Hall (TDH) and photo-Hall-effect (PHE) measurements show essential differences between undoped and Si-doped GaN. In undoped GaN the maximum of the Hall mobility occurs at temperatures near 300K with a low value. In PHE, an illumination introduces an enhancement of the mobility and a decrease of the electron density. In contrast, in Si-doped GaN the maximum Hall mobility is higher by a factor of 10 and is observed at temperatures between 100 and 180K. The photoinduced changes in the mobility and electron density are only marginal. Intensity dependent PHE measurements suggest the existence of internal potential barriers caused by inhomogeneities in the undoped samples. These results are combined with the surface-potential roughness on a microscale, as determined by scanning surface-potential microscopy (SSPM). In SSPM the undoped layers show strong potential fluctuations while they are lower for the Si-doped GaN samples. A correlation among the rms roughness of the surface potential, the maximum Hall mobility in TDH, and the maximum changes of the photo-Hall mobility is observed. In undoped GaN the mobility seems to be determined by the scattering at inner potential barriers stemming from structural inhomogeneities.