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The role of Mg bulk hyper-doping and delta-doping in low-resistance GaN homojunction tunnel diodes with negative differential resistance

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5112498· OSTI ID:1613606
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [3];  [3];  [2]
  1. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); DOE/OSTI
  2. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
  3. Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
  4. Photonitride Inc., Tempe, AZ (United States)

GaN p++/n++ tunnel junctions (TJs) with heavy bulk or delta Mg doping at the junction were grown via molecular beam epitaxy with a hysteresis-free and repeatable negative differential resistance (NDR). The TJ with Mg doping of 5.5 × 1020 cm-3 shows NDR at~1.8 V and a large current density of 3.4 KA/cm2 at -1.0 V. Atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging showed no additional defects despite the doping exceeding the solubility limit in GaN allowing subsequent epitaxy of series-connected layers and devices. GaN homojunction TJs grown on bulk GaN showed an improved current density and NDR stability. In addition, the effect of Mg delta doping at the junction was investigated for the first time showing a dramatic improvement in the tunneling characteristics. A metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) grown InGaN light-emitting diode (LED) with an MBE grown GaN homojunction tunnel contact to the MOCVD grown p-GaN layer shows superior lateral conductivity and improved luminescence uniformity, but suffers an added voltage penalty, assumed to be due to interface impurities, compared to control LED with indium-tin-oxide.

Research Organization:
Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AR0000470
OSTI ID:
1613606
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1559342
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 126; ISSN 0021-8979
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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