Photoreflectance in the characterization of heterostructures and devices of semiconductor

Author(s)

Júlio Antônio Nieri de Toledo Soares

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Física (IF/SBI)
• Defense date: 1997-10-16

Examining board members

Erich Werner Rolf Enderlein; Eliermes Arraes Meneses; Maria Aparecida Godoy Soler Pajanian; Iouri Poussep; Patrícia Lustoza de Souza

• Advisor: Erich Werner Rolf Enderlein; Jose Roberto Leite

Abstract

Since the invention of the transistor in 1947, a true technological revolution has brought to reality such devices and facts that, little time ago, seemed to be only possible in science fiction books and films. For this development to happen, an intense research on known semiconductor materials was necessary, together with a ceaseless search for new materials better adapted to specific purposes. Among the characterization techniques used to study semiconductor materials, structures and devices, photoreflectance (PR) is getting more and more important, due to its versatility and inexpensiveness, characteristics that make PR suitable to be a diagnostic tool in a production line of a device factory with the same efficiency it is used in research laboratories. This versatility of PR, besides its proven ability in the evaluation of important device parameters, is what motivated the present work. In this Thesis we demonstrate some of the various possibilities of PR as a characterization technique for semiconductor heterostructures and devices based on such structures. In part I, a brief presentation of PR is given, showing the physical principles on which it is based and detailing its implementation. Also described, is a calculation method for electric field profiles and PR spectra, which allows for a comprehensive interpretation of experimental results. In part II, the experimental and theoretical methods of part I are applied. Starting with INGAAS/GAAS quantum well samples, we obtain important parameters as electron-hole subband transition energies, In alloy composition, and the band offset for the heterostructure. We also verify the changes caused to these structures spectra by the insertion of a charged plane at the middle of the well, such as the shrinkage of the energy gap. In the case of undoped wells, we can see transitions between well sublevels, even at room temperature, demonstrating the sensitivity of the technique. Furthermore we present a PR study of asymmetric quantum wells. We observe the optical control of the two-dimensional electron gas, and separate the contributions due to the light and heavy holes. This is the first PR report on the observation of an optical control of the two-dimensional electron gas in such structures that we know. Experimental and theoretical PR investigations are performed in two kinds of device structures: a GAAS based metal-semiconductor field effect transistor (MESFET) and GAALAS / GAAS based high electron mobility transistors (HEMT). We obtain several important parameters for the optical and electronic properties of these devices, such as built in electric field profile and broadening parameters. For the first time PR is applied to a HEMT in operation, enabling us to reveal the origin of controversial spectral structures. The difficulty on the interpretation of such structures led us to first interpret them as arising from the two-dimensional electron gas. To confirm our interpretation we constructed a macroscopic device, which enabled to vary the gas concentration in the measured region of the sample. The results coming from this measurements shows that this interpretation is not true, in the case of our sample, and is a very conclusive method for testing similar structures. Yet, a résumé of the last years publications on the application of PR and modulation spectroscopy for semiconductor device characterization is presented. Emphasis is given on the characterization of HEMT structures, but a broad bibliography to those ínterested in other devices is also provided. (AU)