Molecular Beam Epitaxy Regrowth Research Articles

High-electron-mobility transistors with metal-organic chemical vapor deposition-regrown contacts for high voltage applications

Source and drain contacts regrown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) were successfully used in nitrogen-polar GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) targeting high voltage switching applications. Previous work on N-polar GaN devices utilized either alloyed ohmic contacts, or ohmic contacts regrown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Using MBE regrowth, ultra-low contact resistances (R C) were demonstrated. In this study, MOCVD was used for the contact regrowth, eliminating the need for an MBE growth step. A metal-to-2DEG (two-dimensional electron gas) contact resistance (R C) of 0.16 Ω mm was demonstrated, comparable to the ultra-low contact resistances that were previously reported for contacts regrown by MBE. N-Polar MISHEMTs fabricated using this technology achieved breakdown voltages over 2000 V, with a specific on-resistance (R ON) of 3.5 mΩ cm2( 8.8 Ω mm), and a dynamic R ON increase of 12% at 400 V. The drain current density was 620 mA mm−1 at V GS = 1 V for device dimensions of L G = 1 μm, L GS = 1 μm, L GD = 28 μm, and W G = 50 μm. The successful contact regrowth by MOCVD eases the adoption of N-polar transistors.

GaSb‐based heterostructure with buried vacuum pocket photonic crystal layer

The vacuum pocket retaining molecular beam epitaxial regrowth of the nano-patterned GaSb surface was demonstrated. The high contrast 2D photonic crystal layer was incorporated into the test 2 µm emitting laser heterostructure. The photonic dispersion determined from angle-resolved electroluminescence experiment showed four well-resolved bands corresponding to the model predictions for the square lattice. The single-mode lasing near 2 µm has been observed at the temperature corresponding to the alignment of the photonic crystal band-edge states and the quantum well gain peak. The reference devices without the photonic crystal layer emitted trivial spectra and did not lase at any temperature.

Comparison of MOCVD and MBE Regrowth for CAVET Fabrication

In this paper, we demonstrate the fabrication of current aperture vertical electron transistors (CAVET) realized with two different epitaxial growth methods. Templates with a p-GaN current blocking layer (CBL) were deposited by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Channel and barrier layers were then regrown by either molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or MOCVD. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and atomic force microscope (AFM) height profiles are used to identify the different regrowth mechanisms. We show that an AlN interlayer below the channel layer was able to reduce Mg diffusion during the high temperature MOCVD regrowth process. For the low-temperature MBE regrowth, Mg diffusion was successfully suppressed. CAVET were realized on the various samples. The devices suffer from high leakage currents, thus further regrowth optimization is needed.

Selective area growth of InxGa1\u2212xAs nanowires on HfO2 templates for highly scaled nMOS devices

The replacement of the strained Si channel in metal-oxide-semiconductor-field-effect-transistors (MOSFETs) with high electron mobility III-V compound semiconductors, particularly InGaAs, is being intensively investigated as an alternative to improve the drive current at low supply voltages in sub-10 nm CMOS applications. As device scaling continues, the reduction of the source and drain contact resistance becomes one of the most difficult challenges to fabricate highly scaled III-V-MOSFETs. In this article, we describe a self-aligned process based on selective molecular beam epitaxial regrowth of InxGa1−xAs (x=0–1) raised source/drain nanowire structures on etched recessed areas of a nanopatterned HfO2 template as a key element to integrate high mobility III-V materials with high-κ dielectrics in three-dimensional device architectures. The interaction of atomic H with the surface of the HfO2 nanopatterns has been investigated by using AFM, ToF-SIMS, and ARXPS. Selective growth has been observed for all values of x between 0 and 1. AFM results show that atomic H lowers the temperature process window for InxGa1−xAs selective growth. HRTEM images have revealed the conformality of the growth and the absence of nanotrench formation near the HfO2 mask edges. InxGa1−xAs alloys grown on H-treated HfO2 patterned substrates exhibit a higher uniformity in chemical composition and full strain relaxation for x≥0.5.

Strained GaN quantum-well FETs on single crystal bulk AlN substrates

We report the first realization of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown strained GaN quantum well field-effect transistors on single-crystal bulk AlN substrates. The fabricated double heterostructure FETs exhibit a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density in the excess of 2 × 1013/cm2. The ohmic contacts to the 2DEG channel were formed by the n+ GaN MBE regrowth process, with a contact resistance of 0.13 Ω · mm. The Raman spectroscopy using the quantum well as an optical marker reveals the strain in the quantum well and strain relaxation in the regrown GaN contacts. A 65-nm-long rectangular-gate device showed a record high DC drain current drive of 2.0 A/mm and peak extrinsic transconductance of 250 mS/mm. Small-signal RF performance of the device achieved the current gain cutoff frequency fT∼120 GHz. The DC and RF performances demonstrate that bulk AlN substrates offer an attractive alternative platform for strained quantum well nitride transistors for the future high-voltage and high-power microwave applications.

Silver free III-nitride flip chip light-emitting-diode with wall plug efficiency over 70% utilizing a GaN tunnel junction

A molecular beam epitaxy regrowth technique was demonstrated on standard industrial patterned sapphire substrate light-emitting diode (LED) epitaxial wafers emitting at 455 nm to form a GaN tunnel junction. By using an HF pretreatment on the wafers before regrowth, a voltage of 3.08 V at 20 A/cm2 was achieved on small area devices. A high extraction package was developed for comparison with flip chip devices which utilize an LED floating in silicone over a BaSO4 coated header and produced a peak external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 78%. A high reflectivity mirror was designed using a seven-layer dielectric coating backed by aluminum which has a calculated angular averaged reflectivity over 98% between 400 and 500 nm. This was utilized to fabricate a flip chip LED which had a peak EQE and wall plug efficiency of 76% and 73%, respectively. This flip chip could increase light extraction over a traditional flip chip LED due to the increased reflectivity of the dielectric based mirror.

Demonstration of a III-nitride vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with a III-nitride tunnel junction intracavity contact

We report on a III-nitride vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with a III-nitride tunnel junction (TJ) intracavity contact. The violet nonpolar VCSEL employing the TJ is compared to an equivalent VCSEL with a tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) intracavity contact. The TJ VCSEL shows a threshold current density (Jth) of ∼3.5 kA/cm2, compared to the ITO VCSEL Jth of 8 kA/cm2. The differential efficiency of the TJ VCSEL is also observed to be significantly higher than that of the ITO VCSEL, reaching a peak power of ∼550 μW, compared to ∼80 μW for the ITO VCSEL. Both VCSELs display filamentary lasing in the current aperture, which we believe to be predominantly a result of local variations in contact resistance, which may induce local variations in refractive index and free carrier absorption. Beyond the analyses of the lasing characteristics, we discuss the molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) regrowth of the TJ, as well as its unexpected performance based on band-diagram simulations. Furthermore, we investigate the intrinsic advantages of using a TJ intracavity contact in a VCSEL using a 1D mode profile analysis to approximate the threshold modal gain and general loss contributions in the TJ and ITO VCSEL.

Molecular beam epitaxial re-growth of CdTe, CdTe/CdMgTe and CdTe/CdZnTe double heterostructures on CdTe/InSb(1 0 0) substrates with As cap

Molecular beam epitaxial growth on CdTe substrates is challenging since the CdTe film crystalline and optical quality is limited by residual defects including threading dislocations and stacking faults. This remains an obstacle in spite of exhausting variables including pre-growth substrate preparation as well as epitaxial growth conditions including thermal oxide desorption, growth temperature, and II/VI flux ratios. We propose a new technique to re-grow structures with low defect densities and high optical and structural quality on InSb substrates. The “CdTe virtual wafer” is made by growing a thin CdTe film on an InSb(100) substrate which is then covered with a thin As cap layer to prevent oxidation of the CdTe surface. The As cap can be removed by thermal desorption at about 300C leaving a clean CdTe surface for subsequent epitaxial growth. This method eliminates the need for chemical etching of CdTe substrates which has been found to lead to an atomically rough surface with residual Carbon and Oxygen contamination. XRD and SEM characterization show a smooth transition from the buffer CdTe to re-grown CdTe layer with identical crystalline quality as for virtual wafer. Steady-state PL and time-resolved PL from CdTe/CdMgTe double heterostructures show substantial improvement in luminescence intensity and carrier lifetime comparable to values for identical samples grown without exposure to atmosphere. We will also report on CdTe/CdZnTe double heterostructures grown on virtual wafers compared to identical structures on conventional CdTe(211)B substrates.

Corrugation reduction in periodically inverted GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy growth using arsenic dimers

Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) regrowth of GaAs on periodically inverted GaAs(100) substrates using arsenic dimers (As2) was studied. We found that we can reduce corrugations on the regrown GaAs by MBE growth using As2 at considerably higher substrate temperatures (∼450 °C) than in the case of growth using arsenic tetramers (∼300 °C). This result indicates that As2 MBE regrowth can be used to fabricate highly efficient GaAs/AlGaAs wavelength conversion waveguiding devices owing to a reduction in the propagation losses caused by interface corrugations. We also estimated the diffusion lengths of Ga atoms coexisting with As2 on GaAs(100) surfaces from experimental thickness variations on the basis of a diffusion equation analysis.

Photoluminescence studies of ZnO films fabricated by using a combination of a hydrothermal method and plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy regrowth

ZnO films were deposited on Si (100) substrates by using a two-step growth process. In the first step, ZnO nanorods were grown by using the hydrothermal method at 140 °C for 5 min. In the second step, a ZnO amorphous layer was deposited on the ZnO nanorods by spin-coating. After completion of the growth process, the films were annealed at 800 °C for 10 min, and a ZnO active layer was deposited on top of the amorphous layer by using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Further, temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurement were conducted to study the optical properties of the prepared films. In the low-temperature PL spectra, emission peaks in the near-band-edge region were observed at 3.370, 3.362, 3.347, 3.329, 3.317, 3.288, 3.263, 3.219, 3.191, and 3.116 eV; these peaks were attributed to free excitons, neutral donor bound excitons, neutral acceptor donor excitons, two electron satellites, and donor acceptor pairs, respectively. These peaks were red-shifted, and their intensity decreased with increasing temperature. The binding energy of the donor was calculated as 43.1 meV by using the Haynes rule. Further, the value α and β, factors in the equation for the energy of localized excitons of donors and acceptors were obtained as 0.73 meV and 750 K, respectively, by fitting the free exciton (FX) peak according to Varshni’s equation. The full width at half-maximum of PL for the films was about 95.1 meV at room temperature; moreover, the following values were obtained for the films by using theoretical equations: the background impurity broadening, Γ0 = 62 meV, the parameter describing exciton-LO phonon interaction, Γ LO = 80 meV, LO phonon energy, ħω LO = 72 meV, and, the coupling strength of an exciton-acoustic phonon interaction, γ ph = 0.087 meV/K Furthermore, the activation energy was about 60.1 meV.

Theoretical analysis of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots in quantum wire array for intermediate band solar cell

A GaAs quantum dot (QD) array embedded in a AlGaAs host material was fabricated using a strain-free approach, through combination of neutral beam etching and atomic hydrogen-assisted molecular beam epitaxy regrowth. In this work, we performed theoretical simulations on a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well, GaAs QD and QD array based intermediated band solar cell (IBSC) using a combined multiband k·p and drift-diffusion transportation method. The electronic structure, IB band dispersion, and optical transitions, including absorption and spontaneous emission among the valence band, intermediate band, and conduction band, were calculated. Based on these results, maximum conversion efficiency of GaAs/AlGaAs QD array based IBSC devices were calculated by a drift-diffusion model adapted to IBSC under the radiative recombination limit.

Photoluminescence from GaAs nanodisks fabricated by using combination of neutral beam etching and atomic hydrogen-assisted molecular beam epitaxy regrowth

We have fabricated GaAs nanodisk (ND) structures by using a combination of neutral beam etching process and atomic hydrogen-assisted molecular beam epitaxy regrowth. We have observed clear photoluminescence (PL) emissions from GaAs NDs. The peak energy showed a blueshift due to the quantum confinement in three spatial dimensions, and it agreed with the theoretically estimated transition energy. The PL results also showed that the cap-layer disks act as radiative recombination centers. We have confirmed that the PL emission originates from the GaAs NDs, and our approach is effective for the fabrication of high quality ND structures.

Fabrication of a self-aligned cross-wire quantum-dot chain light emitting diode by molecular beam epitaxial regrowth

The fabrication of a cross-wire p–i–n light emitting diode (LED) by molecular beam epitaxial overgrowth on mesa-patterned GaAs(100) substrates is presented. Micron-wide mesa stripes fabricated by standard photolithography are subsequently narrowed to sub-micron dimensions by GaAs overgrowth due to net migration towards the mesa top. Chains of InAs quantum dots (QDs) can then be grown in a self-aligned manner on top of the narrow GaAs ridge mesa, forming the active region of the QD-chain LED. The kinetics of the overgrowth is discussed and the electroluminescence operation of the LED is presented.

Enhancement-Mode N-Polar GaN MISFETs With Self-Aligned Source/Drain Regrowth

We report gate-first enhancement-mode (E-mode) N-polar GaN MISFET devices with self-aligned source/drain regions by molecular beam epitaxy regrowth and with a SiNx gate dielectric. E-mode operation at Vds = 4.0 V is demonstrated for devices with gate lengths >; 0.18 μm with a 20-nm GaN channel and a high-temperature SiNx gate dielectric. A high drain current of 0.74 A/mm was measured for an Lg = 0.62-μm device with a peak transconductance of 225 mS/mm and a positive threshold voltage of 1 V. The on resistance of the device was 2 Ω·mm. Devices show short-channel effect with decreasing gate lengths.

Defect structure in heteroepitaxial semipolar () (Ga, Al)N

The defect structures in semipolar ()-GaN, AlN layers grown on m-sapphire by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE)and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are characterized by transmission electronmicroscopy. The epitaxial relationships are identified as and . Defects are identified as mostly partial dislocations, I1-basal andprismatic stacking faults. The density of dislocations is of the order of5.5 × 109 cm − 2. They are Frank–Shockley partial dislocations with (90%), Shockley partial dislocations with (8%) and perfect dislocations ofa-type with (2%). This is in contrast with the growth inc- ora-orientations, where the large majority of extended defects consists of perfect dislocations.Upon MBE regrowth of GaN on MOVPE GaN, no additional defects are generated,although the defects in the substrate propagate through the overgrown layer.However, in the case of MBE deposition of AlN on MOVPE GaN, new threadingdislocations of the type are generated taking stepped and curved structures along their lines.

Height-selective etching for regrowth of self-aligned contacts using MBE

Advanced III–V transistors require unprecedented low-resistance contacts in order to simultaneously scale bandwidth, f max and f t with the physical active region [M.J.W. Rodwell, M. Le, B. Brar, in: Proceedings of the IEEE, 96, 2008, p. 748]. Low-resistance contacts have been previously demonstrated using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), which provides active doping above 4×10 19 cm −3 and permits in-situ metal deposition for the lowest resistances [U. Singisetti, M.A. Wistey, J.D. Zimmerman, B.J. Thibeault, M.J.W. Rodwell, A.C. Gossard, S.R. Bank, Appl. Phys. Lett., submitted]. But MBE is a blanket deposition technique, and applying MBE regrowth to deep-submicron lateral device dimensions is difficult even with advanced lithography techniques. We present a simple method for selectively etching undesired regrowth from the gate or mesa of a III–V MOSFET or laser, resulting in self-aligned source/drain contacts regardless of the device dimensions. This turns MBE into an effectively selective area growth technique.

On the use of a O2:SF6 plasma treatment on GaAs processed surfaces for molecular beam epitaxial regrowth

Preparation of processed GaAs surface cleaning in view of molecular beam epitaxy regrowth by means of a O2SF6 microwave plasma has been investigated. Photoemission, Auger electron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry have been used for characterization. The O2SF6 plasma treatment was found to be very efficient for decontaminating the GaAs surface and leads to the formation of an oxide layer that can be taken off by a thermal or low-temperature H-plasma-assisted deoxidation. The levels of oxygen and carbon contaminants at the regrowth interface were measured to be in the range of a standard homoepitaxial layer–epiready substrate interface. Fluorine was observed to be eliminated upon deoxidation while sulphur is present, particularly in the case of low temperature grown layers. This plasma treatment was found to be efficient for preparation of processed GaAs surfaces for molecular beam epitaxial regrowth.

Temporal isolation of surface-acoustic-wave-driven luminescence from a lateral p–n junction using pulsed techniques

The authors report surface-acoustic-wave-driven luminescence from a lateral p–n junction formed by molecular-beam epitaxy regrowth of a modulation doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well on a patterned GaAs substrate. Pulsed techniques are used to isolate the surface-acoustic-wave-driven emission from any emission due to pick-up of the free-space electromagnetic wave. The luminescence provides a fast probe of the signals arriving at the p–n junction allowing the response of the junction to the surface-acoustic-wave to be studied in the time domain. Oscillations in the surface-acoustic-wave-driven component of the light intensity are resolved at the resonant frequency of the transducer, suggesting that the surface-acoustic-wave is transporting electrons across the junction in packets.

Surface-acoustic-wave-driven luminescence from a lateral p-n junction

The authors report surface-acoustic-wave-driven luminescence from a lateral p-n junction formed by molecular beam epitaxy regrowth of a modulation doped GaAs∕AlGaAs quantum well on a patterned GaAs substrate. Surface-acoustic-wave-driven transport is demonstrated by peaks in the electrical current and light emission from the GaAs quantum well at the resonant frequency of the transducer. This type of junction offers high carrier mobility and scalability. The demonstration of surface-acoustic-wave luminescence is a significant step towards single-photon applications in quantum computation and quantum cryptography.

Polarization dependent loss in III-nitride optical waveguides for telecommunication devices

Excess polarization dependent loss (PDL) was investigated for GaN waveguide devices grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The loss for transverse magnetic polarization strongly depended on the edge dislocation density in the crystal, because the dislocations capture electrons and act like a wire-grid polarizer. By means of MBE regrowth on GaN grown with metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), the PDL was reduced to 1∼2dB∕mm with an edge dislocation density of 3×109cm−2, whereas it was approximately 10dB∕mm for an all-MBE-grown sample. An ultrafast all-optical switch utilizing the intersubband transition was fabricated with a multiple quantum well structure that was regrown with MBE on MOCVD-grown GaN. An extinction ratio of as high as 11.5dB was achieved with a control pulse energy of 150pJ, which is attributable to the reduction of the excess PDL.