Semiconductor Research: Experimental Techniques

383 Pages·2012·9.45 MB·English

by  P. Laukkanen, J. Sadowski, M. Guina (auth.), Amalia Patane, Naci Balkan (eds.)

SpringerSeriesin
materials science
150
SpringerSeriesin
materials science
Editors: R.Hull C.Jagadish R.M.Osgood,Jr. J.Parisi Z.Wang
The Springer Series in Materials Science covers the complete spectrum of materials physics,
includingfundamentalprinciples,physicalproperties,materialstheoryanddesign.Recognizing
theincreasingimportanceofmaterialsscienceinfuturedevicetechnologies,thebooktitlesinthis
seriesreflectthestate-of-the-artinunderstandingandcontrollingthestructureandproperties
ofallimportantclassesofmaterials.
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Amalia Patanè
Naci Balkan
Editors
Semiconductor
Research
Experimental Techniques
With 192 Figures
123
Editors
AmaliaPatanè
TheUniversityofNottingham,SchoolofPhysicsandAstronomy
UniversityPark,NG72RDNottingham,UK
E-mail:[email protected]
NaciBalkan
TheUniversityofEssex,SchoolofComputerScienceandElectronicEngineering
Essex,UK
E-mail:[email protected]
SeriesEditors:
ProfessorRobertHull ProfessorJu¨rgenParisi
UniversityofVirginia Universita¨tOldenburg,FachbereichPhysik
Dept.ofMaterialsScienceandEngineering Abt.Energie-undHalbleiterforschung
ThorntonHall Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße9–11
Charlottesville,VA22903-2442,USA 26129Oldenburg,Germany
ProfessorChennupatiJagadish Dr.ZhimingWang
AustralianNationalUniversity UniversityofArkansas
ResearchSchoolofPhysicsandEngineering DepartmentofPhysics
J4-22,CarverBuilding 835W.DicknsonSt.
CanberraACT0200,Australia Fayetteville,AR72701,USA
ProfessorR.M.Osgood,Jr.
MicroelectronicsScienceLaboratory
DepartmentofElectricalEngineering
ColumbiaUniversity
SeeleyW.MuddBuilding
NewYork,NY10027,USA
SpringerSeriesinMaterialsScience ISSN0933-033X
ISBN978-3-642-23350-0 e-ISBN978-3-642-23351-7
DOI10.1007/978-3-642-23351-7
SpringerHeidelbergDordrechtLondonNewYork
LibraryofCongressControlNumber: 2012935492
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Preface
Thisbookintendstoprovideitsreaderswiththefundamentalsandapplicationsof
experimentaltechniquescommonlyused in semiconductorresearch.Each chapter
describesthephysicsconceptsunderlyingaspecifictechniqueanditslatestdevel-
opmentsintheinvestigationofnovelsemiconductormaterialsandheterostructures,
including InN, dilute nitride III-N-V alloys, InAs/GaSb heterostructuresand self-
assembledquantumdots.
Chapter 1 focuseson the investigationof semiconductorsurfaces by reflection
high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and low-energy electron diffraction
(LEED).Thesediffraction-basedtechniquesgiveaccesstothestructuralproperties
ofcrystallinelayersandjunctions,whichrepresentthecoreofmoderndevices.Sev-
eralexamplesofLEEDandRHEEDpatternsaredescribedandprovidethereader
with the basic toolsforinterpretingRHEED andLEED data. Chapter2 describes
transmissionelectronmicroscopy(TEM)and highresolutionelectronmicroscopy
techniques.Thesearebasedontheanalysisofatransmittedelectronbeamthrough
an electron-transparent sample. Operation principles of TEM and examples of
spatialmappingofcompositionandstrainatthenanoscaleandatomicresolutionare
thefocusofthischapter.Chapter3reviewscommontechniquesusedtoinvestigate
theenergyandmomentumrelaxationratesofhotcarriersinsemiconductorswhere
the carrier heating is achieved by either the application of an electrical field or
by an opticalexcitation.This conditionis frequentlymetin opticalandelectronic
device.Also, this chapterreviewssteady-state spectraland transientmeasurement
techniques.Chapter4describestheprinciples,experimentalsetups,andtheoretical
approachesusedinopticalmodulationspectroscopystudies.Particularattentionis
dedicatedtocontactlesselectroreflectance(CER)andphotoreflectance(PR).These
arenon-destructivetechniques,whicharewidelyappliedtostudythebandstructure
propertiesof semiconductormaterials and devices. The complementarytechnique
of photoluminescence (PL) and its relation to absorption and photoluminescence
excitation(PLE)spectroscopyaredescribedinChap.5.Typicalexperimentalsetups
for optical studies, with and without an applied magnetic field, are discussed
and examples of their application to study electronic properties, disorder effects
and carrier thermalization in III–V semiconductor alloys and heterostructures
v
vi Preface
are provided. High pressure is one of the most valuable characterization tools
available in semiconductor research. Chapter 6 describes how it can be used
to investigate several important physical phenomena in semiconductor materials
and devices such as the Gunn effect and avalanche breakdown. It also considers
laser devices and the interesting changes that take place when a semiconductor
material is subject to high pressures. Chapter 7 describes the principles and
instrumentation of techniques used in spatially resolved spectroscopy, including
micro-photoluminescence((cid:2)-PL),scanningnear-fieldopticalmicroscopy(SNOM),
and spatially resolved cathodoluminescence (CL). Since the spatial resolution is
often limited not only by instrumental capabilities but also by the spreading of
the photoexcited carriers outside the photoexcited volume, the mechanisms of
diffusion, photon recycling, phonon wind, and Fermi pressure are reviewed. The
availability of ultrashort laser pulses has offered a new investigation tool to the
opticalspectroscopyfield,givingaccessnotonlytothespectralfeaturesofluminous
phenomena, but also directly to their dynamics. Chapter 8 presents an overview
of the most popular ultra-fast time resolved optical spectroscopy techniques used
in semiconductor physics in the picosecond and sub-picosecond time range. For
eachofthesetechniques,whichincludetimeresolvedPL(TRPL),pumpandprobe
time resolvedspectroscopy,and time-correlatedsingle photoncounting(TCSPC),
theoperatingprinciplesandthefundamentalconceptsareintroducedtogetherwith
typicalexperimentalsetupsandapplications.Thedevelopmentofanewgeneration
of Raman spectroscopysystems in recentyears has contributedto the widespread
of Raman spectroscopy in materials science. The aim of Chap. 9 is to offer an
up-to-date overview of the fundamentals and use of Raman spectroscopy. The
chapterisrestricted to standardspontaneousRaman spectroscopy.Itdiscussesthe
basic concepts of inelastic light scattering and its application to study phonon
and impurity modes, crystal quality, and strain effects in semiconductors. High
magnetic fields have played a key role in elucidating the electronic properties of
semiconductors.Thecyclotronresonance(CR)andtheHalleffectsareperhapsthe
most celebratedexamplesof the use of magneticfields in semiconductorphysics.
Cyclotron resonance is the focus of Chap. 10, which describes the basic theory
of CR and discusses experimental setups and applications of CR to unravel the
determination of the electron mass in various materials. Chapter 11 examines
instead the physics of electron motion in the presence of a magnetic field, with
particularreferencetorecentapplicationsinwhichhighmagneticfieldshavebeen
used to elucidate the electronic and quantum properties of novel heterostructures
andnanostructures.Also,itdescribeshowmagneto-tunnellingspectroscopy(MTS)
can be used to measure the band structure of semiconductors and to investigate
andmanipulatetheenergyeigenvaluesandeigenfunctionsofelectronsconfinedin
low-dimensionalsystems.Finally,photoconductivity(PC),photo-inducedtransient
spectroscopy(PITS),anddeepleveltransientspectroscopy(DLTS)arepresentedin
Chap.12.These techniquesprovidepowerfultoolsto investigatethe intrinsic and
extrinsic energy levels of a semiconductor, time constants associated with carrier
recombination, activation energies, carrier capture cross-section and densities of
energytraps.
Preface vii
Severalcolleagueshavecontributedtothisbookbykindlymakingavailabletheir
expertiseandknowledge.Weareverygratefulfortheirhelpincompletingthisbook,
whichwehopewillassiststudentsandresearchersintheirwork,thuscontributing
tonovelandexcitingresearchinsemiconductorphysics.
Nottingham,UK AmaliaPatane`
Essex,UK NaciBalkan
•
Contents
1 SurfaceStudiesbyLow-EnergyElectronDiffraction
andReflectionHigh-Energy-ElectronDiffraction...................... 1
P.Laukkanen,J.Sadowski,andM.Guina
1.1 BasicsofRHEEDandLEED........................................ 1
1.2 AnalysisofLEEDandRHEEDPatterns............................ 4
1.3 UsingLEEDtoStudyIII–VSurfaces............................... 8
1.3.1 Thec(8(cid:2)2)SurfacesofInAs(100)
andInSb(100)............................................... 8
1.3.2 TheGaAs(100)Reconstructions........................... 9
1.3.3 TheBi-InducedReconstructions
onIII–V(100)............................................... 11
1.4 UsingRHEEDtoStudyIII–Vs...................................... 12
1.4.1 OptimizingtheGrowthConditions
ofGaAs/AlAsHeterostructures............................ 12
1.4.2 TheGaAs(100)Reconstructions........................... 13
1.4.3 TheGaAs(111)Reconstructions........................... 14
1.4.4 ProbingSurfaceReconstructions
inGaInAsN(100)........................................... 15
1.4.5 In-SituCalibrationsofGrowthRate
andCompositionofMultinaryCompounds............... 15
1.5 ConcludingRemarks................................................. 18
References.................................................................... 19
2 High-ResolutionElectronMicroscopyofSemiconductor
HeterostructuresandNanostructures.................................... 23
DavidL.Sales,AnaM.Beltra´n,JuanG.Lozano,
Jose´ M.Ma´nuel,M.PazGuerrero-Lebrero,TeresaBen,
MiriamHerrera,FranciscoM. Morales,Joaqu´ınPizarro,
AnaM.Sa´nchez,PedroL.Galindo,DavidGonza´lez,Rafael
Garc´ıa,andSergioI.Molina
2.1 Introduction........................................................... 23
ix
x Contents
2.1.1 TransmissionElectronMicroscopy,
aPowerfulToolforSemiconductorResearch............. 24
2.2 CompositionalQuantificationColumn-To-Column
inIII–VSemiconductors............................................. 27
2.2.1 ReferenceSamplesStudy .................................. 28
2.2.2 ImageAnalysisandComparativeIndex................... 29
2.2.3 SimulationofIntegratedIntensities........................ 31
2.3 StrainMeasurementsfromHigh-ResolutionElectron
MicroscopyImages .................................................. 32
2.3.1 Techniques.................................................. 32
2.3.2 Methodology................................................ 33
2.3.3 Applications................................................. 36
2.4 ResultsonIII-SbHetero-andNanostructures...................... 36
2.5 ResultsonInAsQuantumWires .................................... 40
2.5.1 NucleationandInitialGrowthStages
ofInAs/InP(001)QWRs ................................... 40
2.5.2 SimulatedandExperimentalDetermination
ofStrainMapandPredictionofNucleation
SitesfortheGrowthoftheStackedStructures............ 42
2.6 AnalysisoftheNDistributioninGaAsN........................... 44
2.7 ReviewonInNNanostructures...................................... 48
2.8 Crystalline, Compositional, and Strain TEM
AssessmentsofHigh-QualityEpilayersofTernary
andQuaternaryIII-NAlloys......................................... 51
2.8.1 PreviousConsiderations.................................... 52
2.8.2 Briefly,aComplete(S)TEMStudy........................ 53
2.8.3 AnalysesofLateralStrains................................. 56
References.................................................................... 58
3 HotElectronEnergyandMomentumRelaxation ...................... 63
NaciBalkan
3.1 Introduction........................................................... 63
3.2 HotElectronPhotoluminescenceintheSteadyState............... 65
3.3 MobilityMapping.................................................... 69
3.4 NonequilibriumPhonons(HotPhonons) ........................... 70
3.5 Cooling of Hot Electron Hole Plasma by LO
Phonon Emission Using the CW and Transient
PhotoluminescenceSpectroscopy................................... 73
3.5.1 OpticalHeatingintheSteadyStateUsingCW
Photoluminescence......................................... 74
3.5.2 Time-ResolvedPLMeasurements......................... 75
3.6 HotElectronMomentumRelaxation................................ 78
3.6.1 ExperimentalTechniques .................................. 79
3.6.2 TheoreticalModelingofExperimentalResults........... 81