An electron paramagnetic resonance study of the electron transport in heavily Si-doped high Al content AlxGa1−xN

High Al mole fraction AlGaN is an ultrawide bandgap semiconductor with potential applications in power electronics and deep UV detectors. Although n-type material is achievable with Si-doping, the role of Si is controversial, particularly for AlxGa1−xN with x > 0.8. For this paper, AlGaN films were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy onto bulk AlN substrates and doped with 1018–1020 cm−3 Si. We examine electron transport in heavily Si-doped AlxGa1−xN with x ≥ 0.65 using magnetic resonance, which allows us to probe the neutral donors directly rather than the free carriers and avoids complications due to electrical contacts. Transport was studied through the temperature-dependent linewidth of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signature for the neutral donor. Analysis shows evidence of hopping conductivity in the most lightly doped samples and impurity band formation in the most heavily doped ones. The EPR results, which are consistent with Hall measurements performed on the same samples, are promising for the development of highly conducting high Al content AlGaN.