KEYWORDS: Particles, Gallium nitride, Aluminum gallium nitride, Semiconductors, Modeling, Ion irradiation, Radioisotopes, Monte Carlo methods, Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, Heterojunctions
Alphavoltaic energy conversion, in which an alpha particle flux from radioisotope sources such as Am-241 is converted into electrical power through a semiconductor junction, offers the promise of a higher power output as compared to the more established betavoltaic systems. Semiconductors coupled to alpha particle irradiation, however, are susceptible to degradation from point defect damage and consequently suffer from reduced power output and operational lifetime. The ternary AlGaN alloy system, due to its high bandgap energy, density, and melting point, is a promising semiconductor system for stable alphavoltaic energy conversion. In this work, AlGaN is explored as a materials basis through both band modeling and combined MBE and MOCVD materials growth of GaN/AlGaN heterojunctions incorporating graded and doped layers. These combined studies and designs work towards a goal of achieving a stable high-power output alphavoltaic device based on the AlGaN materials system.
We report the current progress of our development of near-ultraviolet (NUV) III-nitride vertical-cavity LED emitters and avalanche photodetectors grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The III-N emitters are designed to be UV vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers operating at 369.5nm. We describe the development of the growth and processing of an air-gap/AlGaN distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) consisting of five-pairs of quarter-wavelength layers of Al0.12Ga0.88N and air-gap regions created by selective chemical etching. A 4-6λ cavity was employed in the laser structure. We also report on the electrical and optical emission characteristics of these microcavity emitters. The photodetectors are GaN- and AlGaN-based p-i-n avalanche photodiodes (APDs) designed for front-side illumination. We report on the electrical and optical detection characteristics of these photodetectors.
Front-illuminated GaN p-i-p-i-n separate-absorption and multiplication avalanche photodiode (SAM-APD) epitaxial structures were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on n-type bulk GaN substrates and fabricated into 4×4 arrays with a large detection area of 100×100 μm2. The SAM-APD array showed a uniform distribution of dark current density of JDark<(5.1±0.8)×10-8 A/cm2 at reverse bias (VR) of 44 V except for two of them. In addition, the average onset points of breakdown voltages (VBR) of the SAM-APD array was 73.1±0.21 V, and no microplasmas were visually observed after multiple times I-V scans.
High-resolution imaging in ultraviolet (UV) bands has many applications in defense and commercial systems. The shortest wavelength is desired for increased spatial resolution, which allows for small pixels and large formats. The next frontier is to develop UV avalanche photodiode (UV-APD) arrays with high gain to demonstrate high-resolution imaging. We compare performance characteristics of front-illuminated Al0.05Ga0.95N UV-APDs grown on a free-standing (FS) GaN substrate and a GaN/sapphire template. UV-APDs grown on a FS-GaN substrate show lower dark current densities for all fabricated mesa sizes than similar UV-APDs grown on a GaN/sapphire template. In addition, stable avalanche gain higher than 5×105 and a significant increase in the responsivity of UV-APDs grown on a FS-GaN substrate are observed as a result of avalanche multiplication at high reverse bias. We believe that the high crystalline quality of Al0.05Ga0.95N UVAPDs grown on a FS-GaN substrate with low dislocation density is responsible for the observed improvement of low leakage currents, high performance photodetector characteristics, and reliability of the devices.
High-resolution imaging in ultraviolet (UV) bands has many applications in defense and commercial systems. The shortest wavelength is desired for increased spatial resolution, which allows for small pixels and large formats. In past work, UV avalanche photodiodes (APDs) have been reported as discrete devices demonstrating gain. The next frontier is to develop UVAPD arrays with high gain to demonstrate highresolution imaging. We will discuss a model that can predict sensor performance in the UV band using APDs with various gain and other parameters for a desired UV band of interest. Signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) can be modeled from illuminated targets at various distances with high resolution under standard atmospheric conditions in the UV band and the solar-blind region using detector arrays with unity gain and with high-gain APDs. We will present recent data on the GaN-based APDs for their gain, detector response, dark current noise, and 1/f noise. We will discuss various approaches and device designs that are being evaluated for developing APDs in wide-bandgap semiconductors. The paper will also discuss the state of the art in UVAPDs and the future directions for small unit cell size and gain in the APDs.
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