# US 2016/0260804 A1 · Artificially engineered iii-nitride digital alloy

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- Number: US 2016/0260804 A1
- Document ID: US20160260804A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/061,156
- Filed: 2016-03-04
- Published: 2016-09-08
- Earliest claimed: 2015-03-04
- Assignees: Lehigh University
- Applicants: Lehigh University
- Inventors: Nelson TANSU; Wei SUN; Chee-Keong TAN
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20160260804A1

## CPC

- H10D 62/8164: {comprising only semiconductor materials (potential variation in long-range structurally-disordered materials H10D62/8163)}
- H10D 62/8503: {Nitride Group III-V materials, e.g. AlN or GaN}
- H10P 14/3216: {Nitrides}
- H10P 14/3252: {Alternating layers, e.g. superlattice}
- H10P 14/3416: {Nitrides}
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

A material structure and system for generating a III-Nitride digital alloy.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of forming a III-Nitride quaternary digital alloy (“DA”) of AlGaInN comprising:
generating a periodic structure of closely separated binary alloy layers, each of said binary alloy layers comprising one of AlN, GaN and InN, wherein each of said binary alloy layers has a respective thickness of 1-2 monolayers (“ML”s) and said periodic structure of binary alloy layers has a total thickness of between 10-50 periods.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein said periodic structure comprises at least one period, each of at least one period comprising 3 binary alloy layers.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein said periodic structure of binary alloy layers forms a superlattice.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein strong inter-well resonant coupling is generated within the superlattice structure.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein said periodic structure of closely separated binary alloy layers is generated using an epitaxial process.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein an energy gap of said AlGaInN DA may be tuned by varying said respective thickness of each of said binary alloy layers.

### Claim 7 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, wherein said total thickness is below a threshold such that a wave function associated with said superlattice is coherent.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the respective thickness of each of said binary alloy layers is below a threshold such that a respective wave function of each of binary alloy layers is coupled to at least one wave function of a neighboring binary alloy layer.

### Claim 9

A method of forming a III-Nitride ternary DA comprising:
generating a periodic structure of closely separated binary alloy layers of a first type and a second type, each of said first type of binary alloy layer comprising one of AlN, GaN and InN and each of said second type of binary alloy layer comprising one of AlN, GaN and InN, wherein the first type of binary alloy layer is different from the second type of binary alloy layer and each of said binary alloy layers has a respective thickness of 1-4 MLs and said periodic structure of binary alloy layers has a total thickness of between 10-50 periods.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method according to claim 9, wherein said periodic structure comprises at least one period, each of at least one period comprising 2 binary alloy layers.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The method according to claim 9, wherein said periodic structure of binary alloy layers forms a superlattice.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, wherein strong inter-well resonant coupling is generated within the superlattice structure.

### Claim 13 (depends on 9)

The method according to claim 9, wherein said periodic structure of closely separated binary alloy layers is generated using an epitaxial process.

### Claim 14 (depends on 9)

The method according to claim 9, wherein the ternary digital alloy is one of AlGaN, InGaN and AlInN.

### Claim 15

A III-Nitride quaternary DA of AlGaInN comprising a periodic structure of closely separated binary alloy layers, each of said binary alloy layers comprising one of AlN, GaN and InN, wherein each of said binary alloy layers has a respective thickness of 1-2 MLs and said periodic structure of binary alloy layers has a total thickness of between 10-50 periods.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The III-Nitride quaternary DA according to claim 15, wherein said periodic structure comprises at least one period, each of at least one period comprising 3 binary alloy layers.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The III-Nitride quaternary DA according to claim 15, wherein said periodic structure of binary alloy layers forms a superlattice.

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

The III-Nitride quaternary DA according to claim 15, wherein strong inter-well resonant coupling is generated within the superlattice structure.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

The III-Nitride quaternary DA according to claim 15, wherein said periodic structure of closely separated binary alloy layers is generated using an epitaxial process.

### Claim 20 (depends on 15)

The III-Nitride quaternary DA according to claim 15, wherein an energy gap of said AlGaInN DA may be tuned by varying said respective thickness of each of said binary alloy layers.