Electronic transport in n-type modulation-doped AlGaAs/GaAsBi quantum well structures: influence of Bi and thermal annealing on electron effective mass and electron mobility

Abstract

We investigate electronic transport properties of as-grown and annealed n-type modulation-doped Al0.15Ga0.85As/GaAs1−xBix (x = 0 and 0.04) quantum well (QW) structures using magnetotransport measurements in the temperature range 4.2 K and 60 K and at magnetic fields up to 18 T. Thermal annealing process was applied at two different temperatures, 700 °C and 350 °C during 60 s and 180 s, respectively. We find that electron effective mass and 2D electron density in as-grown Bi-containing sample are slightly lower than that in Bi-free one. Furthermore, quantum electron mobility and quantum scattering time are observed to be decreased in Bi-containing samples. The annealing process at 700 °C causes a slight increase in electron effective mass and 2D electron density. A negligible decrease in electron effective mass and an increase in 2D electron density are determined following annealing at 350 °C. The observed change in electron effective mass following thermal annealing process is attributed to changing 2D electron density in the samples. No improvement on quantum electron mobility and quantum scattering time are observed following thermal annealing at both process temperatures. We determine that one electron subband (e1) for as-grown and annealed (at 700 °C for 60 s) Bi-containing QWs and two electron subbands (e1 and e2) for the annealed (at 350 °C for 180 s) GaAsBi QW sample and the Bi-free QW sample contribute to electronic transport. Our results reveal that there is no significant direct effect of Bi on effective electron mass, but an indirect effect, in which Bi can provoke changes in 2D electron density and hence causes not to observe actual band-edge electron mass but a deviation from its band-edge value. Therefore, it can be concluded that dispersion curve of conduction band does not change as an effect of Bi incorporation in GaAs.