Diffusion barrier spikes for III-V structures

摘要

A diffusion preventing barrier spike is disclosed. The spike prevents diffusion of dopants into another layer without forming a pn junction in the layer. The spikes are illustratively Al or an aluminum containing material such as AlAs and have a thickness on the order of 1 nm. The spikes of the present invention may be used to stop dopant diffusion out of a doped layer in a variety of III-V semiconductor structures, such a InP-based PIN devices.