Honeywell G.m.b.h.

Scott T Reimer

J David Zook

Robert P Ulmer

Scott A McPherson

Maurice L Hitchell, Deceased

Barbara G Barany

Barbara Goldenberg Barany

A process for forming a UV sensitive gallium nitride layer includes a step of depositing a layer of aluminum nitride on which the gallium nitride layer is deposited. Two tests, sheet resistance and photoluminescent response of the gallium nitride layer, allow one to determine that a particular gallium nitride layer produced by the process will have the required response to UV radiation. Either a careful calibration which determines a required length of the aluminum nitride deposition time, or the introduction of silicon into the gallium nitride layer during its deposition, has been found to result in deposit of a gallium nitride layer which has superior UV sensing characteristics.

Process for forming a high gain, wide bandgap gallium nitride

A photoconductor has an active layer of gallium nitride having approximately 10.sup.15 to 5.times.10.sup.15 net donor sites per cubic centimeter and is sensitive to UV radiation. This photoconductor has at least one of a sheet resistance in the approximate range of 10.sup.4 to 5.times.10.sup.6 ohms/unit area and a relatively low level of photoluminescence in the range from about 430-450 nm when excited with light of energy higher than the bandgap energy of 3.4 eV. These criteria tend to define similar semiconductor materials which can form the active layer of an ultraviolet (UV) photodetector having the improved characteristics of a relatively low dark resistance, high sensitivity over at least a range of UV radiation intensity, and decreasing gain with increasing UV radiation.

High gain ultraviolet photoconductor based on wide bandgap nitrides

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Fagan, MN, United States of America

Scott T Reimer