Indium gallium phosphide
Encyclopedia
Indium gallium phosphide (InGaP), also called gallium indium phosphide (GaInP), is a semiconductor
composed of indium
, gallium
and phosphorus
. It is used in high-power and high-frequency electronics because of its superior electron velocity with respect to the more common semiconductors silicon
and gallium arsenide.
It is used mainly in HEMT
and HBT
structures, but also for the fabrication of high efficiency solar cells used for space applications and, in combination with aluminium
(AlGaInP
alloy) to make high brightness LED
s with orange-red, orange, yellow, and green colors.
Indium gallium phosphide is an alloy of indium phosphide and gallium phosphide.
Special importance is an alloy of Ga0.5In0.5P, which is almost lattice matched to GaAs
. This allows, in combination with (AlxGa1-x)0.5In0.5, the growth of lattice matched
quantum well
s for red emitting semiconductor lasers
, e.g. red
emitting
(650nm
) RCLEDs or VCSEL
s for PMMA plastic
optical fiber
s.
Ga0.5In0.5P is used as the high energy junction on double and triple junction photovoltaic cells grown on GaAs
. Recent years have shown GaInP/GaAs tandem solar cells with AM0 (sunlight incidence in space=1.35 kW/m2) efficiencies in excess of 25%.
A different alloy of GaInP, lattice matched to the underlying GaInAs
, is utilized as the high energy junction GaInP/GaInAs/Ge triple junction photovoltaic cells.
Growth of GaInP by epitaxy
can be complicated by the tendency of GaInP to grow as an ordered material, rather than a truly random alloy. This changes the bandgap and the electronic and optical properties of the material.
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
composed of indium
Indium
Indium is a chemical element with the symbol In and atomic number 49. This rare, very soft, malleable and easily fusible post-transition metal is chemically similar to gallium and thallium, and shows the intermediate properties between these two...
, gallium
Gallium
Gallium is a chemical element that has the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Elemental gallium does not occur in nature, but as the gallium salt in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores. A soft silvery metallic poor metal, elemental gallium is a brittle solid at low temperatures. As it liquefies...
and phosphorus
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
. It is used in high-power and high-frequency electronics because of its superior electron velocity with respect to the more common semiconductors silicon
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
and gallium arsenide.
It is used mainly in HEMT
HEMT
High electron mobility transistor , also known as heterostructure FET or modulation-doped FET , is a field effect transistor incorporating a junction between two materials with different band gaps as the channel instead of a doped region, as is generally the case for MOSFET...
and HBT
Heterojunction bipolar transistor
The heterojunction bipolar transistor is a type of bipolar junction transistor which uses differing semiconductor materials for the emitter and base regions, creating a heterojunction. The HBT improves on the BJT in that it that can handle signals of very high frequencies, up to several hundred...
structures, but also for the fabrication of high efficiency solar cells used for space applications and, in combination with aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
(AlGaInP
Aluminium gallium indium phosphide
Aluminium gallium indium phosphide is a semiconductor material.AlGaInP is used in manufacture of light-emitting diodes of high-brightness red, orange, green, and yellow color, to form the heterostructure emitting light...
alloy) to make high brightness LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
s with orange-red, orange, yellow, and green colors.
Indium gallium phosphide is an alloy of indium phosphide and gallium phosphide.
Special importance is an alloy of Ga0.5In0.5P, which is almost lattice matched to GaAs
Gaas
Gaas is a commune in the Landes department in Aquitaine in south-western France....
. This allows, in combination with (AlxGa1-x)0.5In0.5, the growth of lattice matched
Lattice constant
The lattice constant [or lattice parameter] refers to the constant distance between unit cells in a crystal lattice. Lattices in three dimensions generally have three lattice constants, referred to as a, b, and c. However, in the special case of cubic crystal structures, all of the constants are...
quantum well
Quantum well
A quantum well is a potential well with only discrete energy values.One technology to create quantization is to confine particles, which were originally free to move in three dimensions, to two dimensions, forcing them to occupy a planar region...
s for red emitting semiconductor lasers
Laser diode
The laser diode is a laser where the active medium is a semiconductor similar to that found in a light-emitting diode. The most common type of laser diode is formed from a p-n junction and powered by injected electric current...
, e.g. red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
emitting
Solid-state lighting
Solid-state lighting refers to a type of lighting that uses semiconductor light-emitting diodes , organic light-emitting diodes , or polymer light-emitting diodes as sources of illumination rather than electrical filaments, plasma , or gas.The term "solid state" refers commonly to light emitted...
(650nm
1 E-9 m
To help compare different orders of magnitudes this page lists lengths between 10−9 metres and 10−8 metres .Distances shorter than 1 nanometre*1 nm = 1 nanometre = 1000 picometres = 10 angstroms...
) RCLEDs or VCSEL
VCSEL
The vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser, or VCSEL , is a type of semiconductor laser diode with laser beam emission perpendicular from the top surface, contrary to conventional edge-emitting semiconductor lasers which emit from surfaces formed by cleaving the individual chip out of a...
s for PMMA plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
optical fiber
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
s.
Ga0.5In0.5P is used as the high energy junction on double and triple junction photovoltaic cells grown on GaAs
Gaas
Gaas is a commune in the Landes department in Aquitaine in south-western France....
. Recent years have shown GaInP/GaAs tandem solar cells with AM0 (sunlight incidence in space=1.35 kW/m2) efficiencies in excess of 25%.
A different alloy of GaInP, lattice matched to the underlying GaInAs
Gainas
Gainas was an ambitious Gothic leader who served the Eastern Roman Empire as Magister Militum during the reigns of Theodosius I and Arcadius....
, is utilized as the high energy junction GaInP/GaInAs/Ge triple junction photovoltaic cells.
Growth of GaInP by epitaxy
Epitaxy
Epitaxy refers to the deposition of a crystalline overlayer on a crystalline substrate, where the overlayer is in registry with the substrate. In other words, there must be one or more preferred orientations of the overlayer with respect to the substrate for this to be termed epitaxial growth. The...
can be complicated by the tendency of GaInP to grow as an ordered material, rather than a truly random alloy. This changes the bandgap and the electronic and optical properties of the material.
See also
- Gallium phosphide
- Indium(III) phosphideIndium(III) phosphideIndium phosphide is a binary semiconductor composed of indium and phosphorus. It has a face-centered cubic crystal structure, identical to that of GaAs and most of the III-V semiconductors....
- Indium gallium nitrideIndium gallium nitrideIndium gallium nitride is a semiconductor material made of a mix of gallium nitride and indium nitride . It is a ternary group III/group V direct bandgap semiconductor. Its bandgap can be tuned by varying the amount of indium in the alloy...
- Indium gallium arsenideIndium gallium arsenideIndium gallium arsenide is a semiconductor composed of indium, gallium and arsenic. It is used in high-power and high-frequency electronics because of its superior electron velocity with respect to the more common semiconductors silicon and gallium arsenide. InGaAs bandgap also makes it the...
- GaInP/GaAs solar cell