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Indium gallium arsenide

 

 
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Indium gallium arsenide
 
 
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Indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) is a semiconductor
Semiconductor

A semiconductor is a material that has electrical conductivity between those of a Electrical conductor and an electrical insulation; it can vary over that wide range either permanently or dynamically....
 composed of indium
Indium

Indium is a chemical element with chemical symbol In and atomic number 49. This rare, soft, malleable and easily Fusible alloy Post-transition metal is chemically similar to aluminium or gallium but more closely resembles zinc ....
, gallium
Gallium

Gallium is a chemical element that has the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Elemental gallium does not occur in nature, but as the Ga salt, in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores....
 and arsenic
Arsenic

Arsenic is a well-known chemical element that has the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250....
. It is used in high-power and high-frequency electronics because of its superior electron velocity with respect to the more common semiconductors silicon
Silicon

Silicon is the most common metalloid. It is a chemical element, which has the symbol Si and atomic number 14. The atomic mass is 28.0855....
 and gallium arsenide. InGaAs bandgap also makes it the detector material of choice in optical fiber
Optical fiber

An optical fiber is a glass or plastic fiber that carries light along its length. Fiber optics is the overlap of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of optical fibers....
 communication at 1300 and 1550 nm. Gallium indium arsenide (GaInAs) is an alternative name for InGaAs.

The indium content determines the two-dimensional charge carrier
Charge carrier

In physics, a charge carrier denotes a free particle carrying an electric charge. Examples are electrons and ions.In ionic solutions, the charge carriers are the dissolved cations and anions....
 density.


optical and mechanical properties of can be varied by changing the ratio of In and Ga, InxGa1−xAs.






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Indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) is a semiconductor
Semiconductor

A semiconductor is a material that has electrical conductivity between those of a Electrical conductor and an electrical insulation; it can vary over that wide range either permanently or dynamically....
 composed of indium
Indium

Indium is a chemical element with chemical symbol In and atomic number 49. This rare, soft, malleable and easily Fusible alloy Post-transition metal is chemically similar to aluminium or gallium but more closely resembles zinc ....
, gallium
Gallium

Gallium is a chemical element that has the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Elemental gallium does not occur in nature, but as the Ga salt, in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores....
 and arsenic
Arsenic

Arsenic is a well-known chemical element that has the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250....
. It is used in high-power and high-frequency electronics because of its superior electron velocity with respect to the more common semiconductors silicon
Silicon

Silicon is the most common metalloid. It is a chemical element, which has the symbol Si and atomic number 14. The atomic mass is 28.0855....
 and gallium arsenide. InGaAs bandgap also makes it the detector material of choice in optical fiber
Optical fiber

An optical fiber is a glass or plastic fiber that carries light along its length. Fiber optics is the overlap of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of optical fibers....
 communication at 1300 and 1550 nm. Gallium indium arsenide (GaInAs) is an alternative name for InGaAs.

The indium content determines the two-dimensional charge carrier
Charge carrier

In physics, a charge carrier denotes a free particle carrying an electric charge. Examples are electrons and ions.In ionic solutions, the charge carriers are the dissolved cations and anions....
 density.

Ingaas Energy Band Composition

Properties

The optical and mechanical properties of can be varied by changing the ratio of In and Ga, InxGa1−xAs. The InGaAs device is normally grown on an indium phosphide (InP) substrate. In order to match the lattice constant
Lattice constant

The Lattice Constant [or lattice parameter] refers to the constant distance between unit cells in a crystal lattice. Lattices in three dimensions generally have three lattice constants, referred to as a, b, and c....
 of InP and avoid mechanical strain, In0.53Ga0.47As, this composition has a cut-off wavelength of 1.68 µm.

By increasing the ratio of In further compared to Ga it is possible to extend the cut-off wavelength up to about 2.6 µm. In that case special measures have to be taken to avoid mechanical strain from differences in lattice constant
Lattice constant

The Lattice Constant [or lattice parameter] refers to the constant distance between unit cells in a crystal lattice. Lattices in three dimensions generally have three lattice constants, referred to as a, b, and c....
s.

GaAs is lattice mismatched to Ge by 0.08%. With the addition of 1.5% In to the alloy, InGaAs, becomes perfectly latticed matched to Ge. The complete elimination of film stress reduces the defect densities of the epi InGaAs layer compared to straight GaAs.

Applications

HEMT
HEMT

HEMT stands for High Electron Mobility Transistor, and is also called heterostructure FET or modulation-doped FET . A HEMT is a field effect transistor incorporating a junction between two materials with different band gaps as the channel instead of a doped region, as is generally the case for MOSFETs....
 devices using InGaAs channels are one of the fastest types of transistor
Transistor

In electronics, a transistor is a semiconductor device commonly used to Electronic amplifier or switch Electronics signals. A transistor is made of a solid piece of a semiconductor material, with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit....
 .

InGaAs is also a popular material in infrared detector
Infrared detector

An infrared detector is a photodetector that reacts to infrared radiation. The two main types of detectors are thermal and photonic.The thermal effects of the incident IR radiation can be followed through many temperature dependent phenomena....
s. It is widely replacing germanium
Germanium

Germanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is a lustrous, hard, greyish-white metalloid in the carbon group, chemically similar to its group neighbors tin and silicon....
 as a detector material mainly due to lower dark current
Dark current

Dark current is the constant response exhibited by a receptor of radiation during periods when it is not actively being exposed to light. It may refer to:...
 (internally generated current). It is used as the detector material in some short-wave infrared cameras. InGaAs also has lower multiplication noise than germanium when used as the active multiplication layer of an avalanche photodiode
Avalanche photodiode

Avalanche photodiodes are photodetectors that can be regarded as the semiconductor analog to photomultipliers. By applying a high reverse bias voltage , APDs show an internal current gain effect due to impact ionization ....
.

InGaAs can be used as a laser medium. Devices have been constructed operating at wavelengths of 905 nm, 980 nm, 1060 nm, and 1300 nm. InGaAs quantum dots on GaAs have also been studied as lasers.

In(.015)Ga(.985)As can be used as an intermediate band-gap junction in multi-junction photovoltaic cells with a perfect lattice match to Ge. The perfect lattice match to Ge reduces defect density, improving cell efficiency.

Safety and toxicity aspects

The toxicology of InGaAs has not been fully investigated. The dust is an irritant to skin, eyes and lungs. The environment, health and safety aspects of indium gallium arsenide sources (such as trimethylgallium
Trimethylgallium

Trimethylgallium, Ga3, often abbreviated to TMG, is the preferred metalorganic source of gallium for metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy of gallium-containing compound semiconductors, such as gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, gallium phosphide, gallium antimonide, indium gallium arsenide, indium gallium nitride, aluminium ga...
, trimethylindium
Trimethylindium

Trimethylindium , In3, is the preferred metalorganic source of Indium for Metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy of indium-containing compound semiconductors, such as InP, InAs, InN, InSb, GaInAs, InGaN, Aluminium gallium indium phosphide, AlInP, AlInGaNP etc....
 and arsine
Arsine

Arsine is the chemical chemical compound with the Chemical formula arsenichydrogen3. This flammable, pyrophoric, and highly toxic gas is the simplest compound of arsenic....
) and industrial hygiene monitoring studies of standard MOVPE sources have been reported recently in a review .

See also

  • indium gallium phosphide
    Indium gallium phosphide

    Indium gallium phosphide , also called gallium indium phosphide , is a semiconductor composed of indium, gallium and phosphorus. It is used in high-power and high-frequency electronics because of its superior electron velocity with respect to the more common semiconductors silicon and gallium arsenide....
  • Indium gallium zinc oxide
  • gallium arsenide
  • indium arsenide


External links


Academic links

  • at the Ioffe Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia


Commercial links

  • (Goodrich)