Near-interface charged dislocations in AlGaN/GaN bilayer heterostructures

Understanding the behavior of semiconductor dislocation defects in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures is necessary in order to produce powerful and efficient transistors. This letter presents a straightforward technique to characterize dislocation defects with charges along their loops in a bilayer system. This is important regarding the behavior of near-interface dislocations in order to obtain an insight of the mechanical and physical responses. We characterize piezoelectric polarization and emphasize on the importance of dislocation-core electric charge. The results elaborate the variations of the dislocation force by the accumulation of charge and provide an explanation for the dominant dislocation types in nitride semiconductors.