Indium nitride explained

Indium nitride is a small bandgap semiconductor material which has potential application in solar cells^[1] and high speed electronics.^{[2] [3]}

The bandgap of InN has now been established as ~0.7 eV depending on temperature^[4] (the obsolete value is 1.97 eV). The effective electron mass has been recently determined by high magnetic field measurements,^{[5] [6]} m* =0.055 m₀.

Alloyed with GaN, the ternary system InGaN has a direct bandgap span from the infrared (0.69 eV) to the ultraviolet (3.4 eV).

Currently there is research into developing solar cells using the nitride based semiconductors. Using one or more alloys of indium gallium nitride (InGaN), an optical match to the solar spectrum can be achieved. The bandgap of InN allows a wavelengths as long as 1900 nm to be utilized. However, there are many difficulties to be overcome if such solar cells are to become a commercial reality: p-type doping of InN and indium-rich InGaN is one of the biggest challenges. Heteroepitaxial growth of InN with other nitrides (GaN, AlN) has proved to be difficult.

Thin layers of InN can be grown using metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD).

Superconductivity

Thin polycrystalline films of indium nitride can be highly conductive and even superconductive at liquid helium temperatures. The superconducting transition temperature T_c depends on each sample's film structure and carrier density and varies from 0 K to about 3 K.^[7] With magnesium doping the T_c can be 3.97 K.^[7] The superconductivity persists under high magnetic field (few teslas), that differs from superconductivity in In metal which is quenched by fields of only 0.03 tesla. Nevertheless, the superconductivity is attributed to metallic indium chains^[8] or nanoclusters, where the small size increases the critical magnetic field according to the Ginzburg–Landau theory.^[9]

See also

• Indium(III) oxide

External links

• Web site: InN – Indium nitride. . n.d.. Semiconductors on NSM. Fiziko-tekhnichesky institut imeni A. F. Ioffe. 2019-12-29.

Notes and References

1. Book: Nanishi. Y.. Araki. T.. Yamaguchi. T.. 2010. Molecular-beam epitaxy of InN. Veal. T. D.. McConville. C. F.. Schaff. W. J.. Indium Nitride and Related Alloys. CRC Press. 31. 978-1-138-11672-6.
2. Book: Yim. J. W. L.. Wu. J.. 2010. Optical properties of InN and related alloys. Veal. T. D.. McConville. C. F.. Schaff. W. J.. Indium Nitride and Related Alloys. CRC Press. 266. 978-1-138-11672-6.
3. Christen. Jürgen. Gil. Bernard. 2014. Group III nitrides. Physica Status Solidi C. 11. 2. 238. 2014PSSCR..11..238C. 10.1002/pssc.201470041. free.
4. Monemar. B.. Paskov. P. P.. Kasic. A.. 2005-07-01. Optical properties of InN—the bandgap question. Superlattices and Microstructures. en. 38. 1. 38–56. 10.1016/j.spmi.2005.04.006. 2005SuMi...38...38M . 0749-6036.
5. Goiran. Michel. Millot. Marius. Poumirol. Jean-Marie. Gherasoiu. Iulian. Walukiewicz. Wladek. Leotin. Jean. 4. 2010. Electron cyclotron effective mass in indium nitride. Applied Physics Letters. 96. 5. 052117. 2010ApPhL..96e2117G. 10.1063/1.3304169.
6. Millot. Marius. Ubrig. Nicolas. Poumirol. Jean-Marie. Gherasoiu. Iulian. Walukiewicz. Wladek. George. Sylvie. Portugall. Oliver. Léotin. Jean. Goiran. Michel. Broto. Jean-Marc. 4. 2011. Determination of effective mass in InN by high-field oscillatory magnetoabsorption spectroscopy. Physical Review B. 83. 12. 125204. 2011PhRvB..83l5204M. 10.1103/PhysRevB.83.125204.
7. Tiras. E.. Gunes. M.. Balkan. N.. Airey. R.. Schaff. W. J.. 4. 2009. Superconductivity in heavily compensated Mg-doped InN. Applied Physics Letters. 94. 14. 142108. 2009ApPhL..94n2108T. 10.1063/1.3116120.
8. Inushima. Takashi. 2006. Electronic structure of superconducting InN. Science and Technology of Advanced Materials. 7. S1. S112–S116. 2006STAdM...7S.112I. 10.1016/j.stam.2006.06.004. free.
9. Komissarova. T. A.. Parfeniev. R. V.. Ivanov. S. V.. 2009. Comment on 'Superconductivity in heavily compensated Mg-doped InN' [Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 142108 (2009)]. Applied Physics Letters. 95. 8. 086101. 10.1063/1.3212864. free. 2009ApPhL..95h6101K.