A III‐nitride polarization enhanced electron filter for controlling the spectral response of solar‐blind AlGaN/AlN/SiC photodiodes

Heterogeneous aluminium gallium nitride (Alx Ga1-xN)/aluminium nitride (AlN)/silicon carbide (SiC) based n-i-p photodetectors have been demonstrated to effectively tailor the spectral response of SiC within the solar-blind regime. The differences in polarization at the hetero-interfaces resulting in negative polarization induced charge at the Alx Ga1-xN/AlN interface and positive polarization induced charge at the AlN/SiC interface has been exploited to create a large barrier to carrier transport across the interface. This barrier impedes the collection of photo-excited holes in the Alx Ga1-xN layers and enables the selective collection of electrons photo-excited to the Γ and L conduction band valleys of SiC while blocking the collection of electrons in the M valley. In this work, the influence of device design, including the AlN layer thickness and Alx Ga1-xN composition, on the spectral response is discussed. Thin AlN barrier layers are easily overcome by electrons generated in all valleys of 4H-SiC with increasing bias voltage while thicker barrier layers successfully minimize the collection of electrons in the M valley of SiC and therefore suppress the long-wavelength response >260 nm. (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)