Dislocation-assisted electron and hole transport in GaN epitaxial layers

Dislocations significantly influence carrier transport in semiconductors. While segments orthogonal to the channel act as scattering centers impeding conduction, electrically active dislocation cores can facilitate carrier transport. However, the mechanisms governing carrier transport along dislocation cores remain unclear. Here, we provide the first experimental evidence for the separate transport mechanisms of electrons and holes mediated by threading screw dislocations and threading edge dislocations in gallium nitride. Critically, we demonstrate that devices with a higher total dislocation density exhibit less degradation due to current collapse, owing to a larger proportion of edge dislocations mitigating electron trapping caused by screw dislocations. Screw dislocations promote electron leakage via horizontal potential barriers and vertically connected shallow states, while edge dislocations enhance hole transport through extended trap levels interacting with buffer defects. These findings clarify the long-standing debate on carrier-specific dislocation transport mechanisms and offer critical insights for defect engineering, epitaxial growth optimization, and the development of dislocation-enhanced semiconductor devices.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-07-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61510-w
Citations
9
Primary Topic
GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
11.32

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article

Dislocation-assisted electron and hole transport in GaN epitaxial layers

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9 citations
Nature Communications
GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials
11.32
article

Dislocation-assisted electron and hole transport in GaN epitaxial layers

Ning Tang, Hongtu Qian, Kexiang Wei, Jun‐Wei Luo, Qimeng Jiang, Ruyue Cao, Yixu Yao, Chenrui Zhang, Weikun Ge, Jiaolong Liu, Kevin J. Chen, Zhaofu Zhang, Jingyuan Shi, Hui Zhang, Guoping Li, Sen Huang, Yi Pei, Fuqiang Guo, Bo Shen, Xinhua Wang, Xinyu Liu
article en
9 citations

Abstract

Dislocations significantly influence carrier transport in semiconductors. While segments orthogonal to the channel act as scattering centers impeding conduction, electrically active dislocation cores can facilitate carrier transport. However, the mechanisms governing carrier transport along dislocation cores remain unclear. Here, we provide the first experimental evidence for the separate transport mechanisms of electrons and holes mediated by threading screw dislocations and threading edge dislocations in gallium nitride. Critically, we demonstrate that devices with a higher total dislocation density exhibit less degradation due to current collapse, owing to a larger proportion of edge dislocations mitigating electron trapping caused by screw dislocations. Screw dislocations promote electron leakage via horizontal potential barriers and vertically connected shallow states, while edge dislocations enhance hole transport through extended trap levels interacting with buffer defects. These findings clarify the long-standing debate on carrier-specific dislocation transport mechanisms and offer critical insights for defect engineering, epitaxial growth optimization, and the development of dislocation-enhanced semiconductor devices.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK), Peking University (CN), University of Cambridge (GB), Wuhan University (CN), ON Semiconductor (China) (CN), Institute of Microelectronics (SG), Institute of Microelectronics (CN), Institute of Semiconductors (CN), Nanopolis Suzhou (China) (CN), University of Hong Kong (HK)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, CAS-Croucher Funding Scheme for Joint Laboratories
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials
11.32
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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