Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Reduction in the Number of Mg Acceptors with Al Concentration in Al x Ga1-x N

Journal Article · · Journal of Electronic Materials
 [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham, AL (United States). Dept. of Physics
  2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

High hole concentrations in Al x Ga1-x N become increasingly difficult to obtain as the Al mole fraction increases. The problem is believed to be related to compensation, extended defects, and the band gap of the alloy. Whereas electrical measurements are commonly used to measure hole density, we used electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to investigate a defect related to the neutral Mg acceptor. The amount and symmetry of neutral Mg in MOCVD-grown Al x Ga1-x N with x = 0 to 0.28 was monitored for films with different dislocation densities and surface conditions. EPR measurements indicated that the amount of neutral Mg decreased by 60% in 900°C-annealed Al x Ga1-x N films for x = 0.18 and 0.28 as compared with x = 0.00 and 0.08. A decrease in the angular dependence of the EPR signal accompanied the increased x, suggesting a change in the local environment of the Mg. Neither dislocation density nor annealing conditions contribute to the reduced amount of neutral Mg in samples with the higher Al concentration. Rather, compensation is the simplest explanation of the observations, because a donor could both reduce the number of neutral acceptors and cause the variation in the angular dependence.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham, AL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Science Foundation (NSF) (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1497640
Report Number(s):
SAND2014--17634J; 672373
Journal Information:
Journal of Electronic Materials, Journal Name: Journal of Electronic Materials Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 44; ISSN 0361-5235
Publisher:
SpringerCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (14)

Mg in GaN: the structure of the acceptor and the electrical activity journal September 2003
SIMS investigations into the effect of growth conditions on residual impurity and silicon incorporation in GaN and AlxGa1−xN journal January 2000
P-type conductivity in bulk AlxGa1−xN and AlxGa1−xN/AlyGa1−yN superlattices with average Al mole fraction >20% journal April 2004
Effect of threading dislocations on the Bragg peakwidths of GaN, AlGaN, and AlN heterolayers journal June 2005
Comparison of electrical properties and deep traps in p-AlxGa1−xN grown by molecular beam epitaxy and metal organic chemical vapor deposition journal October 2009
Role of nitrogen vacancies in the luminescence of Mg-doped GaN journal April 2012
Correlation between threading dislocation density and sheet resistance of AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructures grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy journal June 2012
Magnetic resonance studies of Mg-doped GaN epitaxial layers grown by organometallic chemical vapor deposition journal February 2002
Theoretical investigation of native defects, impurities, and complexes in aluminum nitride journal April 2002
Nature of acceptor states in magnesium-doped gallium nitride journal May 2005
Shallow versus Deep Nature of Mg Acceptors in Nitride Semiconductors journal April 2012
Metastability of Oxygen Donors in AlGaN journal May 1998
Hole Compensation Mechanism of P-Type GaN Films journal May 1992
The Roles of Threading Dislocations on Electrical Properties of AlGaN/GaN Heterostructure Grown by MBE journal January 2010

Similar Records

The source of holes in p-type In x Ga 1-x N films
Journal Article · Mon Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Journal of Applied Physics · OSTI ID:1382741

Effect of the doping and the Al content on the microstructure and morphology of thin Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1{minus}x}N layers grown by MOCVD[Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition]
Conference · Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2000 · OSTI ID:20104560

Efficient acceptor activation in Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1{minus}x}N/GaN doped superlattices
Conference · Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2000 · OSTI ID:20104565