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Electronic band structure of GaN diluted and overdiluted with group-V elements

Jakub Ziembicki*,¶, Rafał Bartoszewicz, Miłosz Grodzicki, Paweł Scharoch, and Robert Kudrawiec†,‡

Wojciech Olszewski§,¶, Damian Pucicki∥, and Detlef Hommel

Maciej P. Polak

  • *Contact author: jakub.ziembicki@pwr.edu.pl
  • †Contact author: robert.kudrawiec@pwr.edu.pl
  • ‡Also at Łukasiewicz Research Network – PORT Polish Center for Technology Development, Stabłowicka 147, Wrocław 54-066, Poland.
  • §Also at Institute of Experimental Physics, University of Wrocław, pl. Maxa Borna 9, Wrocław 50-204, Poland.
  • ∥Also at Department of Nanometrology, Faculty of Electronics, Photonics and Microsystems, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, 50-372 Wrocław, Poland.
  • These authors contributed equally.
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Phys. Rev. Applied 23, 024005 – Published 3 February, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.23.024005

Abstract

The technology for manufacturing GaN-based devices is already very mature, but band engineering in this technology is still limited to mixing group-III elements, while the incorporation of group-V elements into GaN can create possibilities in band-gap engineering. In this work, we report comprehensive experimental studies of the electronic band structure for As-diluted and overdiluted GaNAs supported by computational methods based on the state-of-the-art density-functional-theory (DFT) approach. These studies clearly demonstrated that the incorporation of arsenic into GaN modifies the valence band, while the conduction band remains undisturbed up to 8% arsenic content. For the first time, As-related changes in the valence band are studied with high resolution in electron photoemission spectroscopy. As-related narrowing of the energy gap is also detected in the absorption spectra. These experimental observations are very consistent with the calculations of the electronic band structure for GaNAs, and therefore the same DFT approach was used to calculate the electronic band structure for GaN diluted and overdiluted with the remaining group-V elements, i.e., GaNP, GaNSb, and GaNBi. In this case, it is also clearly visible that adding P, Sb, or Bi to GaN modifies the valence band, while the conduction band remains undisturbed when the V-group concentration does not exceed 5%.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 23, 024005– Published 3 February, 2025
  • Received 18 August 2024
  • Revised 18 November 2024
  • Accepted 3 January 2025
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