Surface and interface states of gallium-polar versus nitrogen-polar GaN: Impact of thin organic semiconductor overlayers

Hyunjin Kim, Ze Lei Guan, Qian Sun, Antoine Kahn, Jung Han, Arto Nurmikko

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Using ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy, we have investigated the electronic properties of interfaces between copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) films and gallium-polar (Ga-polar) and nitrogen-polar (N-polar) GaN surfaces, respectively. Prior to the deposition of CuPc films, the clean Ga-polar and N-polar surfaces exhibited about 0.6 and 0.13 eV upward band bendings, respectively, showing the influence of electronic states on the surface termination and growth direction. With the deposition of ultrathin layers of CuPc, no additional band bending or charge displacement was observed for the Ga-polar heterointerface. In contrast, the N-polar interface exhibited an additional 0.54 eV band bending upon deposition of only a CuPc monolayer, attributed to a partial electron displacement from GaN to CuPc. The difference between the two cases is interpreted in terms of the difference between the electron affinity of the N-polar and Ga-polar GaN surfaces. With potential device use in mind, GaN/CuPc hybrid photodetector devices were fabricated and their photocurrent responses were investigated for possible applications as photosensors.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number113707
JournalJournal of Applied Physics
Volume107
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2010

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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