Kinetically controlled growth of InN thin films by MBE and their structural, optical and electronic properties

Abstract

The excitement brought by the science and technology of III-V compound semiconductors is well described in several books1{4 and review articles5{8, published. As shown in Fig 1.1, the nitride semiconductors AlN, GaN and InN are direct band gap materials with energy gaps of 0.63eV (InN), 3.4 eV (GaN) and 6.2 eV (AlN). Being iso- structural and possessing similar valance states they enable band gap engineering which enables the formation of ternary alloys whose band gaps cover the entire range of visible spectrum and sufficiently in the infrared and ultraviolet (UV) regions, i.e. continuously variable from 1965 to 200 nm (0.63eV to 6.2eV). This makes them ideal candidates for optoelectronic devices operating anywhere within this wavelength range including for visible light emitters, UV lasers, IR-detectors, full spectrum solar cells, HEMTs etc.