Improved p-type conductivity in Al-rich AlGaN using multidimensional Mg-doped superlattices

A novel multidimensional Mg-doped superlattice (SL) is proposed to enhance vertical hole conductivity in conventional Mg-doped AlGaN SL which generally suffers from large potential barrier for holes. Electronic structure calculations within the first-principle theoretical framework indicate that the densities of states (DOS) of the valence band nearby the Fermi level are more delocalized along the c-axis than that in conventional SL, and the potential barrier significantly decreases. Hole concentration is greatly enhanced in the barrier of multidimensional SL. Detailed comparisons of partial charges and decomposed DOS reveal that the improvement of vertical conductance may be ascribed to the stronger p(z) hybridization between Mg and N. Based on the theoretical analysis, highly conductive p-type multidimensional Al(0.63)Ga(0.37)N/Al(0.51)Ga(0.49)N SLs are grown with identified steps via metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy. The hole concentration reaches up to 3.5 × 10(18) cm(−3), while the corresponding resistivity reduces to 0.7 Ω cm at room temperature, which is tens times improvement in conductivity compared with that of conventional SLs. High hole concentration can be maintained even at 100 K. High p-type conductivity in Al-rich structural material is an important step for the future design of superior AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet devices.