Low-frequency noise in n-GaN

Abstract

Low-frequency noise has been investigated in the hexagonal polytype of n-type gallium nitride (GaN) with equilibrium electron concentration at 300 K n 0⋍7×1017 cm−3. The frequency and temperature dependence of the noise spectral density S I/I2 was studied in the range of analysis frequencies f from 20 Hz to 20 kHz in the temperature range from 80 to 400 K. Over the entire temperature range the frequency dependence of the dark noise is close to S I/I2∼1/f (flicker noise). The rather weak temperature dependence of the noise level is characterized by very high values of the Hooge constant α⋍5–7. These large α values indicate a rather low level of structural quality of the material. The effects of infrared and band-to-band illumination on low-frequency noise in GaN are studied here for the first time. The noise level is unaffected by illumination with photon energy E ph<E g (E g is the band gap) even for a relatively high value of the photoconductivity Δσ⋍50%. Band-to-band illumination (E ph⩾E g) influences the low-frequency noise level over the entire investigated temperature range. At relatively high temperatures the influence of illumination is qualitatively similar to that of band-to-band illumination on low-frequency noise in Si and GaAs. At relatively low temperatures the influence of illumination on the noise in GaN is qualitatively different from the results obtained earlier for Si and GaAs.