Electron energy distribution during high-field transport in AlN

Abstract

The energy distribution of electrons transported through intrinsic AlN heteroepitaxial films grown on SiC was directly measured as a function of applied field and AlN film thickness. Following the transport, electrons were extracted into vacuum through a semitransparent Au electrode and their energy distribution was measured using an electron spectrometer. Transport through films thicker than 95 nm at an applied field between 200 and 350 kV/cm occurred as steady-state hot electron transport following a Maxwellian energy distribution with a characteristic carrier temperature. At higher fields (470 kV/cm), intervalley scattering was evidenced by a multicomponent energy distribution featuring a second peak at the energy position of the first satellite valley. Velocity overshoot was observed in films thinner than 95 nm and at fields greater than 550 kV/cm. In this case, a symmetric energy distribution centered at an energy above the conduction band minimum was measured, indicating that the drift component of the electron velocity was on the order of the “thermal” component. A transient transport length of less than 80 nm was deduced from these observations.