Max-planck-gesellschaft Zur F&#xf6;rderung Der Wissenschaften E. V.

Yoshiji Horikoshi

Klaus Ploog

Albrecht Fischer

Erdmann Schubert

A semiconductor device consisting of epitaxial material is provided with at least one monoatomic layer of doping atoms, i.e. with a layer which is just one atom thick. A particularly preferred device is a field effect transistor in which case the Dirac-delta doped layer 13 extends between the source and drain zones (18, 19) respectively. The field effect transistor can be constructed either with a homogeneous structure or with a hetero structure or with a superlattice structure. The field effect transistors described herein have a high transconductance and are capable of operating at high current densities.

Semiconductor devices with at least one monoatomic layer of doping atoms

A semiconductor device of the doping superlattice type for detecting electromagnetic radiation or particles comprises a semi-insulating substrate (10), a first layer (11) of either n-type or p-type conductivity deposited thereon, a plurality of layers (12, 13, 14) of alternating conductivity types deposited in series on said first layer (11), a strongly p-type electrode region which extends through said p-type and n-type layers (11, 12, 13, 14) and defines a first selective electrode (15), and a strongly n-type electrode region which also extends through said p-type and n-type layers (11, 12, 13, 14), and which is spaced apart from said strongly p-type region and defines a second selective electrode. The device is a homogeneous semiconductor in which the n-type and p-type layers other than the first layer (11) and the outermost layer (14)have substantially identical thicknesses and doping concentrations. The first layer (11) and the outermost layer (14) are of the same conductivity type and have a thickness substantially equal to one half of the thickness of each of the other layers (12, 13). Furthermore, the first layer and the outermost layer have a doping concentration substantially identical to the doping concentration of the other layers. This makes it possible to completely deplete the entire structure thus a high reverse bias can be applied to the device thereby tilting the resultant electric field with respect to the layers. A device of this kind is particularly suited for use as an optical detector in the infrared wavelength region around 1 .mu.m and longer. The device has low dark current at room temperature, a very small capacitance and therefore a fast response time.

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Stuttgart, Germany

Yoshiji Horikoshi