Publications

Copper in Si is shown to be strongly gettered by Al-rich precipitates formed by implanting Al to supersaturation and followed by annealing. At temperatures ranging from 600 to 800 C a layer containing Al precipitates is found to getter Cu from Cu silicide located on the opposite side of a 0.25-mm Si wafer, indicating a substantially lower chemical potential for the Cu in the molten-A1 phase. Cu gettering proceeds rapidly until an atomic ratio of approximately 2 Cu atoms to 1 Al atom is reached in the precipitated Al region, after which the gettering process slows. Redistribution of Cu from one Al-rich layer to another at low Cu concentrations demonstrates that a segregation-type gettering mechanism is operating. Cu gettering occurs primarily in the region containing the precipitated Al rather than the region where the Al is entirely substitutional.

We report the growth and characterization of quaternary AlGaInN. A combination of photoluminescence (PL), high-resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD), and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) characterizations enables us to explore the contours of constant PL peak energy and lattice parameter as functions of the quaternary compositions. The observation of room temperature PL emission at 351nm (with 20% Al and 5% In) renders initial evidence that the quaternary could be used to provide confinement for GaInN (and possibly GaN). AlGaInN/GrdnN MQW heterostructures have been grown; both XRD and PL measurements suggest the possibility of incorporating this quaternary into optoelectronic devices.

The LDRD entitled ``Role of Defects in III-Nitride Based Devices'' is aimed to place Sandia National Laboratory at the forefront of the field of GaN materials and devices by establishing a scientific foundation in areas such as material growth, defect characterization/modeling, and processing (metalization and etching) chemistry. In this SAND report the authors summarize their studies such as (1) the MOCVD growth and doping of GaN and AlGaN, (2) the characterization and modeling of hydrogen in GaN, including its bonding, diffusion, and activation behaviors, (3) the calculation of energetic of various defects including planar stacking faults, threading dislocations, and point defects in GaN, and (4) dry etching (plasma etching) of GaN (n- and p-types) and AlGaN. The result of the first AlGaN/GaN heterojunction bipolar transistor is also presented.