Dilute antimonide nitrides for very long wavelength infrared applications

The addition of small amounts of nitrogen to III-V semiconductors leads to a large degree of band-gap bowing, giving rise to band-gaps smaller than in the associated binary materials. The addition of a small percentage of nitrogen to GaSb or InSb is predicted to move their response wavelengths into the long or even very long wavelength IR ranges. We report the growth of GaNxSb1-x by MBE, using an r.f. plasma nitrogen source, examining the influence of plasma power, substrate temperature and growth rate. We demonstrate high structural quality, as determined by x-ray diffraction, and show a reduction in band-gap by over 300meV, compared with GaSb, based on FTIR transmission spectroscopy. We also report initial experiments on the growth of InNxSb1-x and Ga1-yInyNxSb1-x, with a view to extending the response into the long and very long wavelength IR ranges.

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