Bell Telephone Laboratories

William Wiegmann

Arthur C Gossard

Pierre M Petroff

Raymond Dingle

Christopher L Allyn

A unipolar, rectifying semiconductor device is described. Rectification is produced by an asymmetric potential barrier created by a sawtooth-shaped composition profile of Al.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x As between layers of n-type GaAs. Single and multiple barriers, as well as doped and undoped barriers, show rectification. Also described is the incorporation of this type of device in an infrared detector, a hot electron transistor and mixer diodes.

Graded bandgap rectifying semiconductor devices

Suitably modified molecular beam epitaxy (MBF) techniques are used to synthesize single crystal, periodic monolayer superlattices of semiconductor alloys on single crystal substrates maintained below a critical growth temperature. Described is the fabrication of periodic structures of (GaAs).sub.n (AlAs).sub.m, where m and n are the number of contiguous monolayers of GaAs and AlAs, respectively, in each period of the structure. As many as 10,000 monolayers were grown in a single structure. Also described is the MBE growth of (Al.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x As).sub.n (Ge.sub.2).sub.m, quasi-superlattice and non-superlattice structures depending on the particular values of n, m and the growth temperature. Waveguides, heterostructure lasers and X-ray reflectors using some of the structures are also described.

Method of fabricating periodic monolayer semiconductor structures by

Suitably modified molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) techniques are used to synthesize single crystal, periodic monolayer superlattices of semiconductor alloys on single crystal substrates maintained below a critical growth temperature. Described is the fabrication of periodic structures of (GaAs).sub.n (AlAs).sub.m, where m and n are the number of contiguous monolayers of GaAs and AlAs, respectively, in each period of the structure. As many as 10,000 monolayers were grown in a single structure. Also described is the MBE growth of (Al.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x As).sub.n (Ge.sub.2).sub.m, quasi-superlattice and non-superlattice structures depending on the particular values of n, m and the growth temperature. Waveguides, heterostructure lasers and X-ray reflectors using some of the structures are also described.

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Middlesex, NJ, United States of America

William Wiegmann