Atomistic Understanding of Dislocation Climb in Nitride Semiconductors: Role of Asymmetric Jogs

作     者：Han Yang Xiangru Han Xuelin Yang Yingming Song Beile Chen Zhenghao Chen Guangxu Ju Fujun Xu Ning Tang 

作者机构：State Key Laboratory of Artificial Microstructure and Mesoscopic Physics Nano-optoelectronics Frontier Center of Ministry of Education School of Physics Peking University Beijing 100871 People’s Republic of China Beijing Computational Science Research Center Beijing 100193 People’s Republic of China Peking University Yangtze Delta Institute of Optoelectronics Nantong 226010 Jiangsu People’s Republic of China 

出 版 物：《Physical Review Letters》 (Phys Rev Lett)

年 卷 期：2025年第134卷第5期

页      面：056102-056102页

核心收录：

学科分类：07[理学] 0702[理学-物理学] 

基　　金：National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC, (62234002, 12088101, 61927806) National Natural Science Foundation of China, NSFC National Safety Academic Fund, NSAF, (U2230402) National Safety Academic Fund, NSAF National Key Research and Development Program of China, NKRDPC, (2023YFB3611901, 2023YFB3609601) National Key Research and Development Program of China, NKRDPC 

主　　题：Gallium nitride 

摘      要：Effective control of dislocation climb is of fundamental interest and practical importance in tuning the mechanical and electronic properties of semiconductors. However, it remains a big challenge due to the lack of a clear understanding of its inherent mechanism, in particular, in the nitride semiconductors. In this Letter, the atomic-scale climb process of a single dislocation in GaN is observed for the first time, which undergoes an alternating five- and nine-atomic-ring transformation. Combined with first-principles calculations, we reveal that the jogs exhibiting asymmetric atomic configurations play an unexpected role in determining the different dislocation climb behaviors in GaN. Interestingly, tuning the Fermi-level position by electroactive dopants can selectively generate different species of jogs, which can consequently manipulate the dislocation climb behaviors and dislocation dissociation in a controllable way. Our findings not only highlight the significant role the asymmetric jogs play in the dislocation climb in nitrides, but also suggest a clear routine to control dislocation dynamics in semiconductors.