Ellipsometry

Quantum mechanics

Voltage

Wide-bandgap semiconductor

Materials science

Layer (electronics)

Gallium nitride

Waveform

Semiconductor

Physical chemistry

Polarization (electrochemistry)

Physics

Nanotechnology

Wafer

Terahertz radiation

Characterization (materials science)

Thin film

Chemistry

Optoelectronics

Scientific Reports

Gallium nitride (GaN) is one of the most technologically important semiconductors and a fundamental component in many optoelectronic and power devices. Low-resistivity GaN wafers are in demand and actively being developed to improve the performance of vertical GaN power devices necessary for high-voltage and high-frequency applications. For the development of GaN devices, nondestructive characterization of electrical properties particularly for carrier densities in the order of 1019 cm-3 or higher is highly favorable. In this study, we investigated GaN single crystals with different carrier densities of up to 1020 cm-3 using THz time-domain ellipsometry in reflection configuration. The p- and s-polarized THz waves reflected off the GaN samples are measured and then corrected based on the analysis of multiple waveforms measured with a rotating analyzer. We show that performing such analysis leads to a ten times higher precision than by merely measuring the polarization components. As a result, the carrier density and mobility parameters can be unambiguously determined even at high conductivities.

Terahertz time-domain ellipsometry with high precision for the evaluation of GaN crystals with carrier densities up to 1020 cm−3