Novel Electronics Enabled by Rare Earth Arsenides Buried in III-V Semiconductors

ABSTRACTHeterostructures consisting of III-V semiconductors and epitaxial layers of the rare earth monoarsenides can be grown by molecular beam epitaxy. By alloying ErAs with ScAs, lattice match can be achieved with (Al,Ga)As. Using magneto-transport measurements, we show that these layers are semi-metallic with equal electron and hole concentrations, 3.0 ×1020 cm−3. Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations are used to confirm the predicted Fermi surface geometry and measure the electron effective mass and the coupling to the 4f spin on the Er3+ ion. Remarkably, the material shows no transition from semimetal to semiconductor as the film thickness is reduced to three monolayers. Below three monolayers the films are not uniform and are believed to consist of islands three monolayers high.This system provides a unique opportunity to explore novel electronics based on controlled transport through semimetal/semiconductor heterostructures. Lateral transport through semimetal islands immersed in a δ-doped layer may provide a fast non-linear material for THz electronics. Vertical transport through thin epitaxial layers may enable resonant tunneling hot electron transistors with a semi-metal base. Preliminary experiments on transistor like test structures measure some transfer through a 10 monolayer thick semimetal base. They also identify overgrowth of the III-V semiconductor on the semimetal layer as the key materials issue.