Atomistic Understanding of Dislocation Climb in Nitride Semiconductors: Role of Asymmetric Jogs
Effective control of dislocation climb is of fundamental interest and practical importance in tuning the mechanical and electronic properties of semiconductors. However, it remains a big challenge due to the lack of a clear understanding of its inherent mechanism, in particular, in the nitride semiconductors. In this Letter, the atomic-scale climb process of a single dislocation in GaN is observed for the first time, which undergoes an alternating five- and nine-atomic-ring transformation. Combined with first-principles calculations, we reveal that the jogs exhibiting asymmetric atomic configurations play an unexpected role in determining the different dislocation climb behaviors in GaN. Interestingly, tuning the Fermi-level position by electroactive dopants can selectively generate different species of jogs, which can consequently manipulate the dislocation climb behaviors and dislocation dissociation in a controllable way. Our findings not only highlight the significant role the asymmetric jogs play in the dislocation climb in nitrides, but also suggest a clear routine to control dislocation dynamics in semiconductors.
Authors
- Ning Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2576-523X)
- Xinqiang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5514-8588)
- Xuelin Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5152-5075)
- Zhenghao Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7612-3694)
- Bing Qiang Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6735-4637)
- Guangxu Ju
- Tongjun Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8595-7351)
- Fujun Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0751-6566)
- Han Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8475-7049)
- Bin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2106-7664)
- Yingming Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7818-8910)
- Xiangru Han
- Bo Shen
- Weikun Ge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7179-865X)
Institutions
- King University (US)
- Peking University (CN)
- Beijing Normal University (CN)
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter (CN)
- Beijing Computational Science Research Center (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Artificial Microstructure and Mesoscopic Physics
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2025-02-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.134.056102
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Metal and Thin Film Mechanics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.32
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Peking University
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- National Safety Academic Fund