HYDROGENATION OF GAN, ALN, AND INN

Hydrogen incorporation depths of greater-than-or-equal-to 1 mum are measured for H-2 plasma exposure of GaN and AlN at 250-400-degrees-C for 30 min. The concentration of H-2 incorporated is in the range 5-10X10(17) cm-3 for GaN and 5-30X10(18) cm-3 for AlN under these conditions. No redistribution of the hydrogen is observed for annealing temperatures up to 800-degrees-C, but at 900-degrees-C there is substantial loss of hydrogen from the samples. Similar results are obtained for H-2 implantation into GaN, AlN, and InN, with no significant redistribution observed up to 500-600-degrees-C in either AlN or InN, and motion only at 900-degrees-C in GaN. The thermal stability of hydrogen in III-V nitrides explains previous results for Mg-doped GaN grown using NH3, where post-growth annealing at high temperatures was required to achieve appreciable doping efficiencies.