Traps in Si-doped AlxGa1-xN Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy on Sapphire Characterized by Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy

Abstract

ABSTRACTDeep levels in Si doped AlxGa1−xN samples, with Al mole fraction in the range of x = 0 to 0.30, grown by radio-frequency plasma activated molecular beam epitaxy on sapphire substrates were characterized by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). DLTS measurements show two significant electron traps, P1 and P2, in AlGaN at all aluminum mole fractions. The electron trap, P2, appears to be a superposition of traps A and B , both of which are observed in GaN grown by various growth techniques and are thought to be related to VGa-shallow donor complexes. Trap P1 is related to line defects and N-related point defects. Both of these traps are distributed throughout the bulk of the epitaxial layer. An additional trap P0 which was observed in Al0.20Ga0.80N and Al0.30Ga0.70N is of unknown origin, but like P1 and P2, it exhibits dislocation-related capture kinetics. The activation energy measured from the conduction band of the defects is found to increase with Al mole content, a behavior consistent with other III-V semiconductors.