InP-An Assessment of United States Activities.

The activities toward developing a viable InP technology in the United States are quite recent. However, they now encompass a broad spectrum ranging from compounding through epitaxial deposition of ternary and quaternary alloys to device evaluation. Undoped semicrystalline InP has been prepared with mobilities of greater than 5400 and 90,000 sq. cm.volt sec at 300 K and 77 K respectively. Semiinsulating single crystals have been made with resistivities in excess of 10 to the 7th power ohm-cm having iron doping concentrations in the low 10 to the 16th power atomscc range. Liquid phase epitaxial InP films grown directly on semiinsulating substrates have yielded carrier concentrations of 1 x 10 to the 15th power and mobilities of over 70,000 at 77 k. This review will discuss questions concerning the material aspects, the band structure, the transport and chemical properties, and the devices of indium phosphide in an effort to resolve the primary question - is there a future for indium phosphide in microwave and millimeter wave devices and systems. Author