Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T10:14:39.616Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Plasmon Spectra at Wurtzite Aluminum Gallium Nitride / Silicon Carbide Heterojunctions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2011

Choudhury Jayant Praharaj*
Affiliation:
previously with University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 84112 USA
Get access

Abstract

We present theoretical calculations for electron plasmon spectra at wurtzite Aluminum Gallium Nitride/ Silicon Carbide heterojunctions. Spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations in wurtzite semiconductors give rise to polarization discontinuities at interfaces and to bound interface sheet charges. These charges are of the order of 1013 electrons per cm2 and give rise to two dimensional electron or hole gases near heterojunctions. Electron-electron interactions in the two-dimensional electron gases give rise to collective plasmon excitations. We calculate the dielectric function in these electron gases under the well-known and widely studied random phase approximation. Our calculations are relevant to the determination of the plasmon spectra at wurtzite Aluminum Gallium Nitride / Silicon Carbide heterojunctions and are of potential interest for determining the limits of mobility in two-dimensional electron gases. They are also of interest for terahertz electronics applications.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Perera, et al. , Semiconductor terahertz detectors and absorption enhancement using plasmons, Microelectronics Journal, 39, (2008) 601606 Google Scholar
2. Bernardini, F. and Fiorentini, V., Nonlinear macroscopic polarization in III-V nitride alloys, Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics), 2001, vol. 64, no.8 Google Scholar
3. Ambacher, O. et al. , Pyrolectric properties of Al(In)GaN/GaN hetero- and quantum well structures, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 2002, vol. 14, no 13, pp 339434.Google Scholar
4. Qteish, A., Heine, V. and Needs, R., Polarization, band lineups and stability of SiC polytypes, Physical Review B, Vol. 45, no 12, 1992, pp 6534 Google Scholar
5. Jackson, J.D., Classical Electrodynamics, John Wiley and Sons, 1999 Google Scholar
6. Sherwin, M.E. and Drummond, T.J., Predicted elastic constants and critical layer thicknesses for cubic phase AlN, GaN and InN on SiC, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 69, no 12, 1991 Google Scholar
7. Perlin, et al. , Investigation of longitudinal-optical phonon-plasmon coupled modes in highly conducting bulk GaN, Appl. Phys. Lett. Vol. 67, no 17, 1995 Google Scholar
8. , Harima et al. , Electronic properties in p-type GaN studied by Raman scattering, Appl. Phys. Lett. Vol. 73, no 14, 1998 Google Scholar
9. Hai, G., Studart, N. and Marques, G. E, Plasmon-phonon coupling in _-doped polar semiconductors, Physical Review B, Vol. 55, no 3, 1997 Google Scholar
10. Lee, S.C. and Galbraith, I., Intersubband and intrasubband electronic scattering rates in semiconductor quantum wells, Physical Review B, Vol. 59, no 24, 1999 Google Scholar