Molecular Beam Epitaxy

5Ammonia Molecular Beam Epitaxy of III‐Nitrides

Micha N. Fireman and James S. Speck

Department of Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

5.1 Introduction

Over the past two decades, the III‐nitrides have evolved from a mere laboratory curiosity to an industrially manufactured semiconductor. The dominant applications of III‐nitrides today are optoelectronics devices such as light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) [1–3], edge‐emitting laser diodes (LDs) [4–6], and vertical cavity surface‐emitting lasers (VCSELS) [7–9], which have already made a large impact in the solid‐state lighting and automotive lighting sectors. Continued development of nitride laser technologies is predicted to soon provide applications in light detection and ranging (LIDAR) and telecommunications [10].

In the electronics domain, lateral nitride transistors such as high‐electron‐mobility transistors (HEMTs) show excellent power output and power added efficiencies (PAEs) over a wide range of frequency bands [11,12]. Applications in military and civilian avionics and radar applications may benefit greatly from these high‐frequency, high‐power advances. Furthermore, nitrides can perform with less stringent active cooling requirements, of great benefit to lowering the overall efficiency and footprint of any product. Finally, advances in nitride growth and device development are expected to soon impact the power electronics community as high‐voltage rectifiers, vertical transistor devices, and power switching ...