Dielectric Function of “Narrow” Band Gap InN

Abstract

ABSTRACTSpectroscopic 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.