SusChEM: The Role of Disorder in an Expanded Family of Nitride Semiconductors

非技术描述：二元氮化物半导体(氮化镓、氮化铝和氮化铟)及其合金在光电子学和高功率电子学中有商业应用。然而，它们的应用受到材料约束的限制。特别是，镓和铟很贵，铟很稀缺。这里的研究活动围绕着用同等比例的2价和4价元素取代3价元素镓或铟的想法，例如锌和锡，或镁和硅，所有这些元素都更便宜和更丰富。此外，这些新的三元半导体有望具有独特的性质，使新的、重要的应用成为可能。该项目的教育活动包括研究生和本科生的招募和培训，以及当地高中教师参与专业发展和高中科学课程的设计和开发。技术描述：研究重点是用气-液-固法合成含锌和镁的三元氮化物。主要目标包括阐明缺陷和无序对光学性质的作用，发展新的生长技术，以及发展对热力学性质的理解。依赖于温度的稳态和时间分辨光致发光光谱和光致发光激发光谱提供了对能带结构、缺陷性质以及载流子弛豫和复合过程的洞察。三元氮化物半导体的发展提供了一种变革性的潜力，将扩大二元氮化物的能力，这不仅可以克服后一种材料的一些挥之不去的问题，特别是将光发射器的可获得波长范围进一步扩大到紫外线和整个可见光光谱，而且还导致了全新的应用。

Non-technical Description: The binary nitride semiconductors (gallium nitride, aluminum nitride, and indium nitride) and their alloys have found commercial applications in optoelectronics and high-power electronics. However, their applications are limited by materials constraints. In particular, gallium and indium are expensive, and indium is scarce. The research activities here center around the idea of replacing the valence 3 element gallium or indium by equal proportions of valence 2 and valence 4 elements, such as, for example, zinc and tin, or magnesium and silicon, all of which are less expensive and more abundant. In addition, these new ternary semiconductors are expected to have unique properties that will make possible new, important applications. The educational activities of this project include the recruiting and training of graduate and undergraduate students, and the involvement of local area high-school teachers in professional development and in the design and development of high-school science curricula.Technical Description: The research focuses on the synthesis of the zinc- and magnesium-containing ternary nitrides using vapor-liquid-solid methods. The primary objectives include the elucidation of the roles of defects and disorder on the optical properties, the development of new growth techniques, and the development of understanding of the thermodynamic properties. Temperature-dependent steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy provide insight into the band structure, defect properties, and carrier relaxation and recombination processes. The development of the ternary nitride semiconductors provides a transformative potential that would extend the capabilities of the binary nitrides, which could not only overcome some of the lingering problems of the latter materials, in particular extending the accessible wavelength range for light emitters further into the ultraviolet and through the entire visible spectrum, but also lead to entirely new applications.