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Electron Transport Within III-V Nitride Semiconductors

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Springer Handbook of Electronic and Photonic Materials

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Abstract

The III-V nitride semiconductors, gallium nitride, aluminum nitride, and indium nitride, have been recognized as promising materials for novel electronic and optoelectronic device applications for some time now. Since informed device design requires a firm grasp of the material properties of the underlying electronic materials, the electron transport that occurs within these III–V nitride semiconductors has been the focus of considerable study over the years. In an effort to provide some perspective on this rapidly evolving field, in this paper we review analyses of the electron transport within these III–V nitride semiconductors. In particular, we discuss the evolution of the field, compare and contrast results obtained by different researchers, and survey the more recent literature. In order to narrow the scope of this chapter, we will primarily focus on the electron transport within bulk wurtzite gallium nitride, aluminum nitride, and indium nitride for the purposes of this review. Most of our discussion will focus on results obtained from our ensemble semi-classical three-valley Monte Carlo simulations of the electron transport within these materials, our results conforming with state-of-the-art III–V nitride semiconductor orthodoxy. Steady-state and transient electron transport results are presented. We conclude our discussion by presenting some recent developments on the electron transport within these materials.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The work at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (M. S. Shur) was supported by the US Army Cooperative Research Agreement (Project Monitor Dr. Meredith Reed).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, Canada

    Stephen K. O’Leary & Poppy Siddiqua

  2. Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada

    Walid A. Hadi

  3. Charlottesville, USA

    Brian E. Foutz

  4. Dept. of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, USA

    Michael S. Shur

  5. Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA

    Lester F. Eastman

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  1. Stephen K. O’Leary
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  2. Poppy Siddiqua
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Correspondence to Stephen K. O’Leary .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

    Safa Kasap

  2. Formerly with Leonardo MW Ltd, Southampton, UK

    Peter Capper

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O’Leary, S.K., Siddiqua, P., Hadi, W.A., Foutz, B.E., Shur, M.S., Eastman, L.F. (2017). Electron Transport Within III-V Nitride Semiconductors. In: Kasap, S., Capper, P. (eds) Springer Handbook of Electronic and Photonic Materials. Springer Handbooks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48933-9_32

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