Rare earth slab doping of group III-V compounds

Abstract

A semiconductor film is provided characterized by having high carrier mobility and carrier density. The semiconductor film is doped with the rare-earth element erbium so as to improve its temperature stability. The semiconductor film is thereby particularly suited for use as a magnetic field sensing device, such as a Hall effect sensor or magnetoresistor. The semiconductor film is formed from a narrow-gap Group III-V compound, preferably indium antimonide, which is n-doped with the erbium to provide an electron density sufficient to increase temperature stability. In particular, the semiconductor film is characterized by a nini-structure which is generated using a slab-doping technique. The slab-doping process encompasses the growing of alternating layers of doped and undoped layers of the Group III-V compound, with the doped layers being substantially thinner than the undoped layers, and preferably as thin as one atomic plane. The electron density establishes an average extrinsic electron density within the combined undoped and doped layers of the Group III-V compound. The density of erbium in the doped layers is preferably sufficient to yield an average extrinsic electron density of between about 1.times.10.sup.16 cm.sup.-3 and about 1.times.10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3, while also achieving a carrier mobility greater than about 30,000 cm.sup.-2 /V-s at room temperature.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.