Log in

Valence-band discontinuity between GaN and AIN measured by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy

  • Published:
Journal of Electronic Materials Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The valence-band discontinuity at a wurtzite GaN/AIN (0001) heterojunction is measured by means of x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. The method first measures the core level binding energies with respect to the valence-band maximum in both GaN and A1N bulk films. The precise location of the valenceb and maximum is determined by aligning prominent features in the valenceb and spectrum with calculated densities of states. Subsequent measurements of separations between Ga and Al core levels for thin overlayers of GaN film grown on A1N and vice versa yield a valence-band discontinuity of ΔEv = 0.8+- 0.3 eV in the standard Type I heterojunction alignment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Canada)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. For a review of the physical properties of the III-V nitrides see: S. Strite and H. Morkoç,J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 10,1237 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. For a review of the III-V nitrides as a device technology see: H. Morkoç, S. Strite, G.B. Gao, M.E. Lin, B. Sverdlov and M. Burns,JAP Rev. pending; for a review of wide-bandgap semiconductors see:Proc. Seventh Trieste ICTP-IUPAP Semiconductor Symposium, (1992), ed. C.G. Van de Walle,Physica B 185 (1993).

  3. The method is descibed in detail by R.W. Grant, E.A. Kraut, J.R. Waldrop and S.P. Kowalczyk,Heterojunction Band Discontinuities, ed. F. Capasso and G. Margaritondo (Amsterdam: North-Holland Physics Publishing, 1987) ch. 4.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Values from this current work were reportedin Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, 610 (1994).

    Google Scholar 

  5. M.E. Lin, B. Sverdlov, G.L. Zhou and H. Morkoç,Appl. Phys. Lett. 62, 3479 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. E.A. Kraut, R.W. Grant, J.R. Waldrop and S.P. Kowalczyk,Phys. Rev. Lett. 41, 1620 (1980).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. O.K. Andersen, O. Jepsen and M. Sob,Electronic Band Structure and its Applications, ed. M. Yussouf, (Heidelberg: Springer, 1987), p. 1.

    Google Scholar 

  8. L. Hedin and B.I. Lundqvist,J. Phys. C 4, 2064 (1971).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. W.R.L. Lambrecht and B. Segall,Properties of Group-Ill Nitrides, ed. J.H. Edgar, EMIS Data Review Series, (Sevenage Herts: United Kingdom: Institute of Electrical Engineers, 1994), in press.

    Google Scholar 

  10. H. Ohno, H. Ishii, K. Matsuzaki and H. Hasegawa,J. Cryst. Growth 95, 367 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Martin, G., Strite, S., Botchkarev, A. et al. Valence-band discontinuity between GaN and AIN measured by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. J. Electron. Mater. 24, 225–227 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02659679

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02659679

Key words

Navigation