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Electronic structures of wide band-gap (AlN){sub m}(GaN){sub n} [001] superlattices

Conference ·
OSTI ID:394991
 [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada). Inst. for Microstructural Sciences
  2. Univ. de Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

Wide bandgap III-V nitrides, such as GaN and AlN, have become topical in the near-term technology of blue lasers. The authors report detailed electronic band-structure calculations for (AlN){sub m}(GaN){sub n} [001] zinc-blende superlattices (SL), with m + n {le} 12, using the all-electron full-potential linear-muffin-tin-orbital method. For n {ge} 3, the SL are found to have a direct band gap. For n {le} 2 and m {ge} 3, all the band gaps are indirect. In ultrathin SL, m {le} 3 and n {le} 2, only (m,n) = (3,1) is found to have an indirect gap. The band offsets are estimated by calculating the core-level shifts of nitrogen atoms in the central planes of the GaN and AlN layers. The calculated densities of states, electron- and hole-effective masses (m*), etc., as a function of m and n, are reported; a remarkable dependence of m* on the number of layers is revealed.

OSTI ID:
394991
Report Number(s):
CONF-951155--; ISBN 1-55899-298-7
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English