From Mg to Be: Rethinking P-Type Doping Strategies in Wide-Bandgap III-Nitrides
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From Mg to Be: Rethinking P-Type Doping Strategies in Wide-Bandgap III-Nitrides
Achieving efficient p-type doping in gallium nitride (GaN) and its alloys remains one of the most critical challenges in realizing the full potential of III-nitride semiconductors for high-power electronics, deep-ultraviolet (DUV) optoelectronics, and quantum information technologies. While magnesium is the conventional acceptor dopant, its high ionization energy (≈0.22 eV in GaN and up to 0.6 eV in AlN) limits hole concentrations to below ~1% activation efficiency, constraining device performance.
Our recent work explores beryllium as an alternative acceptor in (Al,Ga)N, leveraging metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) to achieve high-quality, low-defect epitaxial growth. Through extensive photoluminescence and time-resolved spectroscopy studies of over fifty MOCVD grown Be-doped GaN samples, we identified the UVLBe band at ~3.38 eV as a signature of a shallow Be-related acceptor with an ionization energy of ~113–114 meV — significantly shallower than Mg in GaN. Complementary theoretical studies support the assignment of this shallow state to the BeGaONBeGa complex, suggesting a pathway toward achieving p-type conductivity in AlGaN and even AlN alloys.
In recent limited MOCVD growth studies on co-doping with oxygen and Be, we have observed preliminary indications that oxygen incorporation can enhance the signature of the shallow Be acceptor, though further work is needed to fully establish the efficacy and stability of this co-doping strategy.
These results provide new insight into the nature of Be-related defects in GaN and AlGaN, and they highlight co-doping pathways as a promising route to overcome the long-standing bottleneck of achieving high hole concentrations.
When: Friday, November 7th, 2025 – 11:45AM to 1PM (PDT)
11:45AM - 12PM: Intro
12PM-12:45PM: Lecture
12:45PM-12:55PM: Q&A
1PM Adjourn
Bio:
Dr. F. Shadi Shahedipour-Sandvik is a Professor of Engineering at the State University of New York, where she leads research on wide bandgap III-nitride semiconductor materials and devices for applications in lighting, power electronics, sensing, and quantum information science. Her work spans two decades of innovation and pioneering work in (Al,In) GaN materials and device engineering, with contributions ranging from high-efficiency p-type doping techniques and defect engineering and characterization to novel photocathodes and betavoltaic devices. She has authored nearly 200 publications and delivered invited talks worldwide on growth, characterization, device physics with applications in emitters, power electronics, and detectors.
Shahedipour-Sandvik lab has been continuously funded by a variety of sources including NSF, ARL/ARO, DARPA, DOE, ARPA-E, NASA, and by industry.
She has advised more than a dozen Ph.D. students, many of whom now hold technical leadership positions in national labs, and industry.
She served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Electronic Materials (2015–2024) and has been recognized with the SUNY Excellence in Research Award and the IBM Faculty Award, among other honors.
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From Mg to Be: Rethinking P-Type Doping Strategies in Wide-Bandgap III-Nitrides
