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Dilute Bismuthides on an InP Platform

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Bismuth-Containing Compounds

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Materials Science ((SSMATERIALS,volume 186))

Abstract

Incorporating a small amount of bismuth into conventional III–V compounds (GaAs, InGaAs) creates materials known as dilute bismuthides. They have attracted increasing attention over recent years due to their unique optical and electrical properties. They are potential candidates for mid-infrared (mid-IR) devices because of the reduced band gap resulting from valence band anticrossing (VBAC). Meanwhile, they serve as good thermoelectric materials due to the combination of high thermoelectric power factor inherited from InGaAs and the reduced thermal conductivity caused by the incorporation of bismuth. One advantage of InGaBiAs on an InP platform over GaBiAs on GaAs is its possibility to grow a film lattice-matched to the substrate, which is more desirable in optoelectronics. The growth conditions of InGaBiAs on an InP platform by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are discussed in details. Similar to GaBiAs growths, low growth temperature and moderate Bi/As ratio are beneficial for bismuth to incorporate. The compositions of InGaBiAs samples are studied by high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). The results from reciprocal space mapping (RSM) indicate that most of the samples are nearly 100 % strained. The band gaps of InGaBiAs are measured by spectrophotometry and modeled by VBAC theory. The good agreement between the experimental and simulation shows an effective band gap reduction due to the incorporation of bismuth. Photo reflectance (PR) and contactless electroreflectance (CER) studies confirm the results from spectrophotometry and indicate the band gap between conduction band and spin orbit is not affected by the variation of bismuth concentration. Unintentionally doped InGaBiAs samples exhibit promising electrical properties comparable to InGaAs and expected lower thermal conductivity. N-type InGaBiAs:Si films with different doping levels show potential application in thermoelectrics and highly conductive materials are promising as contact materials for heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) and in other applications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge our collaborators: Prof. Robert Kudrawiec and his group from Wroclaw University of Technology and Prof. Eoin O’Reilly and his group from Tyndall National Institute for the help of Sect. 4.4.4.2. We also thank our collaborator: Prof. Patrick Hopkins and his group from University of Virginia with the helpful measurements of thermal conductivity. In addition, we thank Prof. James LeBeau and his group from North Carolina State University for the HAADF-STEM picture. Finally, we acknowledge the US Office of Naval Research for financial support, primarily through the Young Investigator Program.

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  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Yujun Zhong, Pernell Dongmo & Joshua Zide

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  1. Yujun Zhong
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  2. Pernell Dongmo
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Correspondence to Joshua Zide .

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, People's Republic of China

    Handong Li

  2. State Key Laboratory of Electronic, University of Electronic Science and Technology, Chengdu, People's Republic of China

    Zhiming M. Wang

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Zhong, Y., Dongmo, P., Zide, J. (2013). Dilute Bismuthides on an InP Platform. In: Li, H., Wang, Z. (eds) Bismuth-Containing Compounds. Springer Series in Materials Science, vol 186. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8121-8_4

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