Band gap engineering of amorphous Al-Ga-N alloys
AssigneeOhio University
InventorMartin E. Kordesch
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A semiconductor structure and a scheme for forming a layer of amorphous material on a semiconductor substrate are provided. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a semiconductor structure is provided comprising an amorphous alloy formed over at least a portion of a semiconductor substrate. The amorphous alloy comprises amorphous aluminum nitride (AlN) and amorphous gallium nitride (GaN). The amorphous alloy may be characterized by the following formula: AlxGa1−xN where x is a value greater than zero and less than one. The amorphous alloy may further comprise indium nitride. Relative proportions of aluminum and gallium in the amorphous aluminum gallium nitride alloy are controlled to engineer the band gap of the amorphous alloy.
Claims19
A method of forming a layer of amorphous material on a substrate, said method comprising the steps of:
- positioning said substrate in a reactive sputter deposition chamber of a reactive sputtering system including at least one sputter target containing aluminum and gallium;
- introducing a carrier gas including nitrogen into said sputter deposition chamber;
- operating said sputtering system to promote reaction of aluminum and gallium from said sputter target and nitrogen from said gas in said sputter deposition chamber;
- maintaining said substrate at a deposition temperature selected to promote growth of an amorphous aluminum gallium nitride alloy on said substrate;
- and
- further operating said sputtering system so as to designate relative proportions of aluminum and gallium in said amorphous aluminum gallium nitride alloy.
A method of forming a layer of amorphous material on a substrate, said method comprising the steps of:
- positioning said substrate in a reactive sputter deposition chamber of a reactive sputtering system including at least one sputter target consisting essentially of aluminum and gallium;
- introducing a carrier gas including nitrogen into said sputter deposition chamber;
- operating said sputtering system to promote reaction of aluminum and gallium from said sputter target and nitrogen from said gas in said sputter deposition chamber;
- maintaining said substrate at a deposition temperature selected to promote growth of an alloy consisting essentially of amorphous aluminum gallium nitride on said substrate;
- and
- further operating said sputtering system so as to designate relative proportions of aluminum and gallium in said amorphous aluminum gallium nitride alloy.
A method of forming a layer of amorphous material on a substrate, said method comprising the steps of:
- positioning said substrate in a reactive sputter deposition chamber of a reactive sputtering system including at least one sputter target consisting essentially of indium, aluminum, and gallium;
- introducing a carrier gas including nitrogen into said sputter deposition chamber;
- operating said sputtering system to promote reaction of indium, aluminum and gallium from said sputter target and nitrogen from said gas in said sputter deposition chamber;
- maintaining said substrate at a deposition temperature selected to promote growth of an alloy consisting essentially of amorphous indium aluminum gallium nitride on said substrate;
- and
- further operating said sputtering system so as to designate relative proportions of indium, aluminum, and gallium in said amorphous indium aluminum gallium nitride alloy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.