n‐type conductivity in sublimation‐grown AlN bulk crystals

AlN crystals grown by physical vapour‐phase transport in the presence of a SiC doping source possess n‐type conductivity. The net donor concentration attains up to mid 10¹⁷ cm^–3. The investigation reveals shallow donors forming an impurity band and acceptor‐like electron traps at about 0.5 eV below the conduction band edge. Thermal electron emission from these traps is responsible for the observed n‐type conductivity. The shallow donors are suggested to be due to Si atoms on Al sites. The majority of them is assumed to be compensated by deep acceptors in the lower half of the band gap. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)