Carrier transport through a dry-etched InP-based two-dimensional photonic crystal
- Department of Microelectronics and Applied Physics, Royal Institute of Technology, S-16440 Kista (Sweden)
The electrical conduction across a two-dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) fabricated by Ar/Cl{sub 2} chemically assisted ion beam etching in n-doped InP is influenced by the surface potential of the hole sidewalls, modified by dry etching. Carrier transport across photonic crystal fields with different lattice parameters is investigated. For a given lattice period the PhC resistivity increases with the air fill factor and for a given air fill factor it increases as the lattice period is reduced. The measured current-voltage characteristics show clear ohmic behavior at lower voltages followed by current saturation at higher voltages. This behavior is confirmed by finite element ISE TCAD{sup TM} simulations. The observed current saturation is attributed to electric-field-induced saturation of the electron drift velocity. From the measured and simulated conductance for the different PhC fields we show that it is possible to determine the sidewall depletion region width and hence the surface potential. We find that at the hole sidewalls the etching induces a Fermi level pinning at about 0.12 eV below the conduction band edge, a value much lower than the bare InP surface potential. The results indicate that for n-InP the volume available for conduction in the etched PhCs approaches the geometrically defined volume as the doping is increased.
- OSTI ID:
- 20979434
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 101, Issue 12; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2747222; (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ARGON
CHARGE CARRIERS
CHARGED-PARTICLE TRANSPORT
CHLORINE
CRYSTAL FIELD
CRYSTALS
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ELECTRON DRIFT
ETCHING
FERMI LEVEL
FILL FACTORS
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
INDIUM PHOSPHIDES
ION BEAMS
LATTICE PARAMETERS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SURFACE POTENTIAL