Recent knowledge of strength and dislocation mobility in wide band-gap semiconductors

The mechanical strengths and dislocation activities in wide band-gap semiconductors SiC, AlN, GaN, ZnO and ZnSe at elevated temperatures are summarized. From investigations by indentation hardness test and compressive deformation, activation energies for dislocation motion are evaluated to be 2-2.7, 0.7-1.2 and 0.5-0.7 eV in GaN, ZnO and ZnSe, respectively. Dislocations in II-VI compounds ZnO and ZnSe are essentially mobile.