Polarization-engineered heterogeneous semiconductor heterostructures

US12243916B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy · US

Inventors

• Karl D. Hobart · Alexandria, US
• Marko J. Tadjer · Greenbelt, US
• Michael A. Mastro · Fairfax, US
• Mark Goorsky · Valencia, US
• Asif Khan · Irmo, US
• Samuel Graham, Jr. · Atlanta, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 28, 2022
• Grant date: Mar 4, 2025
• Expiry date: Jul 5, 2043

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H10D62/824
• WIPO field: Semiconductors
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Semiconductor heterostructures having an engineered polarization. Semiconductor materials having specified crystallographic directions and specified polarizations are directly bonded to one another by means of atomic layer bonding without the use of any interfacial bonding materials, where spontaneous polarization of the two layers produced by joining the two materials by direct wafer bonding produces a strong 2DEG or 2DHG at the interface. Embodiments include GaN/AlN and AlN/GaN heterostructures having an N- or Ga-polar GaN layer directly bonded to an N- or Al-polar Al layer. Other embodiments can incorporate an InN epitaxial layer or an alloy incorporating an N-polar, Al-polar, or Ga-polar material having In, Al, or Ga in the crystal lattice, e.g., (InxAl1-xN), InxGa1-xN, AlxGa1-xN, InxAlyGa1-x-yN, where (0<x≤1, 0<y≤1, 0<x+y≤1).