We measured Hall concentration n and mobility μ in InGaP:Si and AlGaAs:Sn epitaxial layers grown on GaAs as a function of pressure up to 2 GPa and at temperatures from 77 to 350 K. We interpreted our results for InGaP:Si in terms of the broad distribution of impurity states resonant with the conduction band. For AlGaAs:Sn the resonant impurity states seem to be sharp but the composition gradient moves them with respect to the Fermi level. The broad distribution of impurity states leads to small temperature effects on conductivity while the pressure effects remain strong. These features make InGaP:Si and graded-gap AlGaAs:Sn very attractive as piezoresistive pressure sensors. Moreover, they do not reveal any metastability in the 77 to 300 K temperature range.

This work was supported by the Committee for Scientific Research (KBN) through grant No. 8T 10C 027 11.

6 páginas, 4 figuras.-- et al.

Peer reviewed