The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 24, 1994
Filed:
Sep. 28, 1992
Joseph P Heremans, Troy, MI (US);
Dale L Partin, Romeo, MI (US);
Christopher M Thrush, Shelby Township, MI (US);
General Motors Corporation, Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
A semiconductor film is provided characterized by having high carrier mobility and carrier density. The semiconductor film is doped with the rare-earth element erbium so as to improve its temperature stability. The semiconductor film is thereby particularly suited for use as a magnetic field sensing device, such as a Hall effect sensor or magnetoresistor. The semiconductor film is formed from a narrow-gap Group III-V compound, preferably indium antimonide, which is n-doped with the erbium to provide an electron density sufficient to increase temperature stability. In particular, the semiconductor film is characterized by a nini-structure which is generated using a slab-doping technique. The slab-doping process encompasses the growing of alternating layers of doped and undoped layers of the Group III-V compound, with the doped layers being substantially thinner than the undoped layers, and preferably as thin as one atomic plane. The electron density establishes an average extrinsic electron density within the combined undoped and doped layers of the Group III-V compound. The density of erbium in the doped layers is preferably sufficient to yield an average extrinsic electron density of between about 1.times.10.sup.16 cm.sup.-3 and about 1.times.10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3, while also achieving a carrier mobility greater than about 30,000 cm.sup.-2 /V-s at room temperature.