Midinfrared intersubband absorption on AlGaN/GaN-based high-electron-mobility transistors

Intersubband absorption measurements on two nominally undoped AlGaN/GaN-based high-electron-mobility transistors with different Al compositions in the barrier layer are presented. The first transistor with a barrier consisting of Al0.6Ga0.4N showed an absorption peak at 247 meV (1973 cm(-1)) with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 126 meV, while the second device utilizing an Al0.8Ga0.2N barrier had its peak at 306 meV (2447 cm(-1)) with a FWHM of 86 meV. Self-consistently computed potentials and intersubband transition energies showed good agreement with the experimental findings, and therefore confirmed previously published values for the internal piezoelectric field in such structures. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.