International Journal of Semiconductor

Science & Technology (IJSST)

ISSN(P): 2250-1576; ISSN(E): 2278-9405
Vol. 4, Issue 1, Oct 2014, 21-30
TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

ACTIVATION ENERGY OF INXGA1-XAS THIN FILM PREPARED BY MBE

ALAM M K
Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Pabna University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT
Electrical conductivity and carrier concentration were measured on thin films of InxGa1-xAs at a temperature
region from 273K to 323K. The thin films were grown on single crystal GaAs substrate by Molecular Beam Epitaxial
method. It is found that the electrical conductivity and carrier concentration at room temperature for GaAs
In0.14Gao.86As are 15.31

and

10-3 and 1.292 mho-cm-1 respectively and the activation energy calculated from conductivity

graphs for these two samples are 0.11 eV and 0.01 eV respectively. For samples with x = 0.185 and x = 0.205 ,
electrical conductivity at room temperature are 9.71

102 and 3.94

102 mho-cm-1 respectively. Two activation energies

are observed in these two samples, one at below room temperature and other at above room temperature. For x = 0.185 and
x = 0.205 composition these values are 0.041eV and 0.143 eV respectively at below room temperature and are o.056 eV
and 0.415 eV respectively at above room temperature.

KEYWORDS: Conductivity, Concentration, Temperature

INTRODUCTION
Thin solid films have peculiar physical properties for their planner geometry, size and unique structure. It is wellknown that the properties of a thin film may be quite different from those of the bulk, particularly if the film thickness is
very small. These variations in the properties are because of the peculiar structure of the film which occurs during the film
formation. Generally thin films are prepared by depositing the film material on a substrate, atom by atom.
The process of deposition of a thin film involves one or more phase transformation and orientation and the
formation of a thin film can be understood by a study of the thermodynamics and kinetics of these phase transition. Some
of the noteworthy contributions of thin film phenomena of solid state physics are epitaxial growth, the occurrence of the
metastable structures, size limited electron and phonon transport processes in metals, insulators, and semiconductors,
quantum mechanical tunnelling through normal and superconducting metal insulator junctions, micromagnetics, and
plasma resonance absorption. The properties of thin films are something different from that of the bulk material due to
various reasons.
The properties of a thin film changes appreciably when it is cooled to a low temperature or heated to a higher
temperature. A study of changes in the properties of thin films at various temperatures provides a great deal of information
about the properties of thin films. The electrical and optical properties of thin films are being studied throughout the world.
Electrical conductivity, Hall Effect, mobility, carrier concentration and activation energy of a thin film are the main
electrical properties.
In this work the activation energies of various samples of InxGa1-xAs were measured at temperature range 273K to
323K. The InxGa1-xAs used were procured from UPSALA, SWEEDEN and were grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxial

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Alam M K

(MBE) method on a single crystal GaAs substrate. The thickness of all samples was 2.5 and the size of the samples was
square and the total area is 5.64 square-millimeters.

EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS
Electrical Conductivity
Electrical conductivity of various samples of InxGa1-xAs were measured at the temperature range from 273K to
323K by measuring their electrical resistivity . Van-der Pauw's method was used to measure the electrical resistivity of the
specimens. Four electrical contacts were made at the four corners; say A, B, C & D (Figure 1) of the sample with silver
paste. When a dc was passed through any two terminals of the sample, say A & B; an electrometer (Keithley 614) was used
to measure the dc passing through AB, it produced a potential difference between the contact CD and a digital voltmeter
was used to measure the voltage developed between C & D. A copper-constantan thermocouple was used to measure the
temperature.

Figure 1: Electrical Contact of a Film

Figure 2: Circuit for Hall Effect Measurement

If IAB, the dc entering a specimen through AB and VCD, the potential difference between CD, then the resistance
RAB,CD is defined as VCD/IAB. Similarly RBC,DA and RAC,BD are defined as VDA/IBC and VAC/IBD respectively.
For our square shaped and constant thickness samples, the resistivity is given by the expression
= 2.266t(RAB,CD+RBC,DA) ohm-cm

(i)

where t is the thickness of the film and conductivity

= 1/ mho-cm-1
Hall Effect
Van-der Pouws method was also used for the measurement of Hall Effect. The (Van-der Pouws) specimen
provided with four electrical contacts was used for this measurement. The electrical circuit used in Hall Effect
measurements is shown in Figure 2. The specimen with the heating arrangement was placed in between parallel polepieces. The sample was placed between the pole faces in such a way that magnetic lines of forces are perpendicular to the
faces of the sample. In our work the gap between pole-pieces was kept at 4 cm and fields from 0 to 5.5 KGs were used.

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.8869

Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

Activation Energy of InxGa1-XAs Thin Film Prepared by MBE

23

Hall effects were measured using conventional dc method. The current drawn from a voltage regulated power
supply unit. Currents and voltages were measured by a digital electrometer (Keithley 614) and a digital multimeter. A dc
from the power supply unit was passed between the contacts A and C. Variable magnetic field was then applied normal to
the faces of the specimen and the corresponding Hall voltage was measured between the points B and D. That voltage was
measured carefully with the help of a high precession digital multimeter.

CALCULATION OF HALL CONSTANT

For a constant current between A and C terminals, voltages induced between B and D in zero field, say V1 and at
any other applied field, say V2 were measured. Then the change in resistance RAC,BD was calculated by using the relation
RAC, BD = (V2 - V1)/I

(ii)

Nernst and Righi-Ledue effects were eliminated by reversing the current and the magnetic field and taking the
average of the readings. Four sets of readings were taken first with I in positive direction and a pair of readings with the
magnetic field normal and reversed and then reversing the current and another pair of readings with the magnetic field
normal and reversed were taken. Average of these four readings eliminates all errors and Hall voltage was calculated by
using the relation
RH = RAC, BD (108t/H) cm3/Coul.

(iii)

where the magnetic field H is in Gauss and the film thickness t is in cm.

CALCULATION OF CARRIER CONCENTRATION AND ACTIVATION ENERGY

The carrier concentration n is calculated from the relation
n = 1/RHe cm3 ---------------------------

(iv).

The activation energies are calculated from the slope of respective ln vs. 1/T graphs and checked from ln n vs.
1/T graphs.

RESULTS
Conductivity
In the present work conductivity and Hall Effect of InxGa1-xAs films are studied within 273K to 313K temperature
range. The temperature variation of conductivity for different concentration of In are observed. For pure GaAs i.e. for x=0
and for In0.14Ga0.86As i.e. for x=0.14 the curves show that with the increase in temperature, conductivity decreases slowly.
For films with x=0.185 and x=0.205 Indium concentration, conductivity first decreases then pass approximately through a
flat region and then again decrease with the increase in temperature. In both the samples, the observed flat region appears
slightly below the room temperature. A comparison of the conductivity of all films shows that the conductivity of the
sample with x=0.14 Indium concentration is more than the value for GaAs by almost two order of magnitude but films
with x = 0.185 and x = 0.205 Indium concentration the conductivity is lower than the value obtained for GaAs and this
value decreases with increasing concentration of Indium. The variation of conductivity with inverse of temperature for all
these samples is also studied48.
Hall Effect

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Alam M K

Measurements of Hall voltage are a natural compliment to conductivity measurements in studies of transport
phenomena of crystalline semiconductors. Since the Hall coefficients provides a reliable estimate of the carrier
concentration and carrier type, similar to resistivity measurement, Van-der Pouw method is used for Hall Effect
measurements. Hall Effect measurements are made on pure GaAs and on InxGa1-xAs within temperature range of 273 to
313K for magnetic field up to 5.5 KG. At room temperature R value for GaAs and for x=0.14 remains almost invariant
with field but for x=0.185 the value decreases first and then remain almost constant with field and for x = 0.205 the value
increases with field. Hall coefficients were also measured at various temperatures. Temperature variation of Hall
coefficient for these films is also observed. For GaAs, RH decreases gradually with the increase in temperature, for x=0.l4
the value remain almost constant up to room temperature and then decreases with temperature. For x=0.185 concentration,
RH decreases with temperature similar to GaAs but for x=0.205 the value increases with increasing temperature. Magnitude
of RH for GaAs, X=0.14, x=0.185, and x=0.205 at 300K are 1.20x105, 1.8x103, 1.7x105 and 2x106 cm3/Coul. respectively.
One interesting fact that was observed from Hall Effect measurement is that for GaAs and InxGa1-xAs with x=0.14 films,
Hall coefficients are negative, so these two films are n-type and the carriers are electrons. But samples with x=0.185 and
x=0.205 shows positive Hall coefficients, hence they are p-type and the carriers are holes.
Activation Energy
To calculate the activation energy from conductivity, ln versus 1/T graphs are drawn for pure GaAs and for
InxGA1-XAs with different concentration of Indium and these are shown in Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6
respectively.

Figure 3: Ln vs (1/T)10-3 Graph for GaAs

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.8869

Figure 4: Ln vs (1/T)10-3 Graph for In0.14Ga0.86As

Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

25

Activation Energy of InxGa1-XAs Thin Film Prepared by MBE

Figure 5: Ln vs. 1/T Graph for In0.185Ga0.815As

Figure 6: Ln vs. 1/T Graph for In0.205Ga0.795As

The samples except GaAs and sample with x=0.14 composition shows two distinct activation energy regions, one
above the room temperature and the other below the room temperature. Sample with x=0 and x=0.14 show only one
activation energy region within the temperature region that we have observed. Activation energy calculated for different
sample at different temperature region is tabulated in the table-1.
Table 1
Sample
In0.14Ga0.86As
In0.185Ga0.815As

'x' Composition
x=0.00
x=0.140
x=0.185

In0.205Ga0.795As

x=0.205

Activation Energy in eV
0.11
0.01
0.041 below room temperature
0.056 above room temperature
0.143 below room temperature
0.415 above room temperature

From the conductivity graph, it could be said that samples with higher Indium concentration i.e. x=0.185 and
x=0.205 are of different character compare to pure GaAs and the sample with x=0.14 Indium concentration. This is
confirmed from the Hall Effect measurement and is discussed later.

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Alam M K

Carrier Concentration

Figure 7: ln n vs (1/T) Graph for InxGa1-xAs

Carrier concentrations are calculated from Hall Effect measurements. Temperature variation of carrier
concentrations for GaAs and InxGa1-xAs within temperature range from 273K to 313K at zero fields is presented in Fig.7.
Within this temperature region carrier concentration for each sample increases with the increasing temperature. For sample
with x=0.14 composition carrier concentration is one order higher and for x=0.205 Indium concentration it is one order less
than the value of GaAs. For x=0.185 the value is of the same order of magnitude with GaAs. For all the four samples, 1n n
vs. 1/T graph has been plotted in Figure 7. The activation energies of various films are compared with the calculated values
from ln vs. 1/T graph.

DISCUSSIONS
Compounds formed by the elements of the third and fifth column of the periodic table crystallize with sphalerite
structure. In this compound since each group III atom is tetrahedral and surrounded by group V atoms and vice-versa it is
reasonable to assume that, on the average each atom has four valence electrons. This suggests that the bonding has a
covalent character and that the semiconducting properties of these types of compounds are similar to those of the
corresponding group IV elements.
Single phase solid solutions of ternary III-V mixed crystal system such as InxGa1-xAs alloy can be prepared over
the complete compositional range44 0 x 1. Optical-absorption measurements show that the band gap varies
monotonically from GaAs to InAs44-47 and is believed to remain direct in the alloy system.
In the preparation of our samples a crystalline GaAs is used as a substrate for the epitaxial growth of InxGa1-xAs.
Since lattice constant of InxGa1-xAs is larger than that of GaAs, a difference of the lattice constants between GaAs and
InxGa1-xAs gives rise to lattice mismatching at the interface. Crystal imperfections due to this lattice mismatching cause a
degradation of electrical characteristics of the epitaxial layers. The surface of InxGa1-xAs layer in the case of small
composition 'x' usually is smooth as that of GaAs epitaxial layers. The surface degrades with increasing In composition.
The degradation of the crystal is attributed to accumulation of the strain due to the lattice mismatching. This lattice
mismatch induces defects into the epitaxial layers and thus greatly influences the electrical properties of the layers.

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.8869

Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

27

Activation Energy of InxGa1-XAs Thin Film Prepared by MBE

Therefore the cause of resistivity must be sought in the deviations from the perfect regularity of the potential in
which the electrons move. Deviations from the periodicity of the potential causing resistivity are due to (i) lattice vibration,
(ii) lattice defects such as vacancies, interstitial and dislocations, (iii) the order in the lattice, and (iv) grain boundaries.
According to electronic theory of solids the electrical conduction or electrical conductivity results from the
scattering of these electrons by lattice. Electron can pass through a perfect lattice without any attenuation. Actually no
lattice is perfect. Even a lattice which has no structural defects or foreign atoms cannot be completely regular at any
temperature.
From Hall Effect measurements it is observed that Hall coefficients are negative for GaAs and InxGa1-xAs with
x=0.14. So in these samples the electron mobility is greater than the hole mobility. For these two samples when
temperature is increased, conductivity decreases slowly. Addition of In causes a maxima of conductivity at room
temperature region and then it decreases with increasing temperature. It can be assumed that the conductivity below room
temperature is a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic, with the increase in temperature more and more impurity centres
are ionized. Near 300 K impurity centres are almost completely ionized and the carrier concentration is constant. In this
range conductivity varies only due to change in mobility with temperature.
Activation energy below room temperature was calculated for GaAs and In0.14Ga0.86As from ln vs. 1/T graph.
Values obtained for GaAs and In0.14Ga0.86As are 0.11 eV and 0.01 eV respectively. Since both the samples are n-type,
these activation energy may be associated with the donor levels below the conduction band. Films with addition of In is
expected to introduce extra donor levels below the conduction band and conductivity is expected to be higher than that of
pure GaAs. Our measurements show that the conductivity of the sample with Indium concentration x=0.14 is much higher
than the pure GaAs Figure 1. At room temperature the conductivity of GaAs and In0.14Ga0.86As are 15.31x10-3 and 1.292
mho-cm1 respectively.
As mentioned before from Hall Effect measurement InxGa1-xAs with x=0.185 and x=0.205 are p-type and hence
the majority carrier are holes. Observation of conductivity vs. reciprocal of absolute temperature (ln vs. l/T) graph for
these two films shows that there are two clear activation energy levels one below room temperature and the other above
room temperature, with an exhaustion range in between room temperature. Since they are of p-type the activation energy
may be assign to the ionization of acceptor impurity levels. Exhaustion level as usually appears due to the complete
ionization of all acceptor impurities. The second activation energy could be assigned

to

the ionization of deep acceptor

impurities. Activation energies calculated below and above room temperature for x=0.185 are 0.041eV and 0.056 eV
respectively and for x=0.205 compositions they are 0.143 eV and 0.415 eV respectively. These levels can be considered as
due to the presence of impurity acceptor levels above the valence band. These activation energies corresponds Lu the depth
of Cue hole trap level measured from the valence band. In the case of x=0.205 composition both the acceptor levels are
quite deep, no shallow acceptor level have been detected in this sample. The levels obtained in these two films are
summarized in Figure 8.

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Alam M K

(a) In0.185Ga0.815As

(b) In0.205Ga0.795As

Figure 8: Energy Diagrams of Acceptor Levels in the Present Investigations

Similar deep acceptor levels have also been reported by T. Sugino et al30 in InxGa1-xAs sample from their
photoluminescence and photoconductivity studies. They found the energies as 0.013, 0.13 and 0.35 eV measured from
valance band. Our results seem to be in good agreement with their results and the levels are probably of the same origin. It
is difficult at these stages to assign the origin of the deep levels; however these levels are possibly due to the lattice defects
introduced by the misfit strain near the interface30. Furthermore, these trapping centres seem to contribute to the reduction
of carrier mobility in InxGa1-xAs. This may be a cause of reduced conductivity of the sample with x=0.205 in comparison to
the conductivity of the sample with x=0.185 of Indium composition.
The presence of the deep acceptor levels may also be due to the presence of a large number of interstitial In atoms
in the GaAs lattice. It is well known that the ionic radius of In (0.92 ) is much greater than those of Ga (0.62 ) and As
(0.69 ), so due to the introduction of In in GaAs, it is equally probable that some In atom should go to the interstitial
sites in the lattice. These In atoms at low temperature remain unionized but would be ionized at much higher temperature
than is normally required for the Indium atoms at the lattice sites.
From Figure 3, it is seen that the carrier concentration also depends on the concentration of In in the samples. For
n-type samples i.e. for GaAs and x = 0.14 composition carrier concentration n has increased but for p-type samples i.e.
for x = 0.185 and x = 0.205 composition the value is decreased with increasing In composition. For n-type and p-type
semiconductor the electron concentrations are expected to, increase with increasing temperature. Our experimental results
agree with this conception.
Activation energy also can be calculated from the slope of ln n vs. 1/T over a small range of temperature. We tried
to calculate the activation energy from the 1n n vs. 1/T graph within the same temperature region which have also used for
calculation of activation value from conductivity graphs. Results obtained from these two methods are not in good
agreement. For ideal crystalline sample activation energy calculated from these two sources expected to have the same
value. But in real crystal they may differ because in conductivity we have the contribution both from the carrier and its
mobility.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Author is grateful to his supervisor Professor Dr. M. G. M Chowdhury for invaluable guidance and Professor Dr.
M. Obaidul Hakim for his constant help to carry out this research work.

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.8869

Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0

29

Activation Energy of InxGa1-XAs Thin Film Prepared by MBE

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Feb., 2013, P. 904-909.

Impact Factor (JCC): 3.8869

Index Copernicus Value (ICV): 3.0