A Raman scattering study of GaAs: As films lifted off GaAs substrate

We performed Raman scattering investigations on low-temperature-grown (LTG) films of GaAs that had been lifted off the GaAs substrate. The Raman measurements unambiguously show the effects of excess arsenic on phonon scattering from LTG films of GaAs. The larger downwards shift of the LO phonon frequency for unannealed free-standing films is explained by invoking the elimination of mismatch strain. The Raman signal due to precipitates of elemental arsenic in the annealed GaAs : As films is determined. It is confirmed that the arsenic clusters formed by rapid thermal annealing are mainly amorphous, giving rise a broad Raman peak in the range 180-260 cm(-1).

Microstructure evolution of GaN buffer layer on MgAl2O4 substrate

Microstructure of GaN buffer layer grown on (111)MgAl2O4 substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It has been observed that the early deposition of GaN buffer layer on the substrate at a relatively low temperature formed a continual island-sublayer (5 nm thick) with hexagonal crystallographic structure, and the subsequent GaN buffer deposition led to crystal columns which are composed of nano-crystal slices with mixed cubic and hexagonal phases. After high-temperature annealing, the crystallinity of nano-crystal slices and island-sublayer in the buffer layer have been improved. The formation of threading dislocations in the GaN him is attributed not only to the lattice mismatch of GaN/MgAl2O4 interface, but also to the stacking mismatches at the crystal column boundaries. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The growth and characterization of GaN grown on an Al2O3 coated (001)Si substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

Single crystal GaN films have been grown on to an Al2O3 coated (001)Si substrate in a horizontal-type low-pressure MOVPE system. A thin Al2O3 layer is an intermediate layer for the growth of single crystal GaN on to Si although it is only an oriented polycrystal him as shown by reflection high electron diffraction. Moreover, the oxide was not yet converted to a fully single crystal film, even at the stage of high temperature for the GaN overlayer as studied by transmission electron microscopy. Double crystal X-ray diffraction showed that the linewidth of (0002) peak of the X-ray rocking curve of the 1.3 mu m sample was 54 arcmin and the films had heavy mosaic structures. A near band edge peaking at 3.4 eV at room temperature was observed by photoluminescence spectroscopy. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Low-temperature growth of cubic GaN by metalorganic chemical-vapor deposition

Low-temperature growth of cubic GaN at 520 degrees C was achieved using CCl4 as an additive by metalorganic chemical-vapor deposition (MOCVD) on GaAs substrate. X-Ray measurement confirmed that the films are single-phase cubic GaN. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) were also used to analyze the surface morphology and the quality of films. The evolution of surface morphology suggests that CCl4 can reduce the hopping barrier and thus Ga adatoms are able to diffuse easily on the GaN surface. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Electronic and vibrational Raman scattering in resonance with yellow luminescence transitions in GaN on sapphire substrate

We analyze low-temperature Raman and photoluminescence spectra of MBE-grown GaN layers on sapphire. Strong and sharp Raman peaks are observed in the low frequency region. These peaks, which are enhanced by excitation in resonance with yellow luminescence transitions, are attributed to electronic transitions related to shallow donor levels in hexagonal GaN. It is proposed that a low frequency Raman peak at 11.7 meV is caused by a pseudo-local vibration mode related to defects involved in yellow luminescence transitions. The dependence of the photoluminescence spectra on temperature gives additional information about the residual impurities in these GaN layers.

Wurtzite GaN epitaxial growth on a Si(001) substrate using gamma-Al2O3 as an intermediate layer

Wurtzite GaN films have been grown on (001) Si substrates using gamma-Al2O3 as an intermediate layer by low pressure (similar to 76 Torr) metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Reflection high energy electron diffraction and double crystal x-ray diffraction measurements revealed that the thin gamma-Al2O3 layer of "compliant" character was an effective intermediate layer for the GaN film grown epitaxially on Si. The narrowest linewidth of the x-ray rocking curve for (0002) diffraction of the 1.3 mu m GaN sample was 54 arcmin. The orientation relationship of GaN/gamma-Al2O3/Si was (0001) GaN parallel to(001) gamma-Al2O3 parallel to(001) Si, [11-20] GaN parallel to[110] gamma-Al2O3 parallel to[110] Si. The photoluminescence measurement for GaN at room temperature exhibited a near band-edge peak of 365 nm (3.4 eV). (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.

The influence of substrate nucleation on HVPE-grown GaN thick films - art. no. 684105

Thick GaN films were grown on sapphire in a home-made vertical HVPE reactor. Effect of nucleation treatments on the properties of GaN films was investigated, including the nitridation of sapphire, low temperature GaN buffer and MOCVD-template. Various material characterization techniques, including AFM, SEM, XRD, CL and PL have been used to assess these GaN epitaxial films. It was found that the surface of sapphire after high temperature nitridation was flat and showed high density nucleation centers. In addition, smooth Ga-polarity surface of epitaxial layer can be obtained on the nitridation sapphire placed in air for several days due to polarity inversion. This may be caused by the atoms re-arrangement because of oxidation. The roughness of N-polarity film was caused by the huge inverted taper domains, which can penetrate up to the surface. The low temperature GaN buffer gown at 650 degrees C is favorable for subsequent epitaxial film, which had narrow FWHM of 307 arcsec. The epitaxial growth on MOCVD-template directly came into quasi-2D growth mode due to enough nucleation centers, and high quality GaN films were acquired with the values of the FWHM of 141 arcsec for (002) reflections. After etching in boiled KOH, that the total etch-pit density was only 5 x 106 cm(-2) illustrated high quality of the thick film on template. The photoluminescence spectrum of GaN film on the MOCVD-template showed the narrowest line-width of the band edge emission in comparison with other two growth modes.

Strain-Compensated InGaAs/InAlAs Quantum Cascade Detector of 4.5 mu m Operating at Room Temperature

We present a strain-compensated InP-based InGaAs/InAlAs photovoltaic quantum cascade detector grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy. The detector is based on a vertical intersubband transition and electron transfer on a cascade of quantum levels which is designed to provide longitudinal optical phonon extraction stairs. By careful structure design and growth, the whole epilayer has a residual strain toward InP substrate of only -2.8 x 10(-4). A clear narrow band detection spectrum centered at 4.5 mu m has been observed above room temperature for a device with 200 x 200 mu m(2) square mesa.

Characterization and analysis of two-dimensional GaAs-based photonic crystal nanocavities at room temperature

This paper describes the design and fabrication process of a two-dimensional GaAs-based photonic crystal nanocavity and analyzes the optical characterization of cavity modes at room temperature. Single InAs/InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) layer was embedded in a GaAs waveguide layer grown on an Al0.7Ga0.3As layer and GaAs substrate. The patterning of the structure and the membrane release were achieved by using electron-beam lithography, reaction ion etching, inductively coupled plasma etching and selective wet etching. The micro-luminescence spectrum is recorded from the fabricated nanocavities, and it is found that some high-order cavity modes are clearly observed besides the lowest-order resonant mode is exhibited in spite of much high rate of nonradiative recombination. The variance of resonant modes is also discussed as a function of r/a ratio and will be used in techniques aimed to improve the probability of achieving spectral coupling of a single QD to a cavity mode.

Effect of channel surface wettability and temperature gradients on the boiling flow pattern in a single microchannel

The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of channel surface wettability and temperature gradients on the boiling flow pattern in a single microchannel. The test section consists of a bottom silicon substrate bonded with a top glass cover. Three consecutive parts of an inlet fluid plenum, a central microchannel and an outlet fluid plenum were etched in the silicon substrate. The central microchannel had a width of 800 mu m and a depth of 30 mu m. Acetone liquid was used as the working fluid. High outlet vapor qualities were dealt with here. The flow pattern consists of a fluid triangle (shrinkage of the liquid films) and a connected long liquid rivulet, which is generated in the central microchannel in the timescale of milliseconds. The peculiar flow pattern is formed due to the following reasons: (1) the liquid rivulet tends to have a large contact area with the top hydrophilic channel surface of the glass cover, but a smaller contact area with the bottom silicon hydrophobic surface. (2) The temperature gradient in the chip width direction at the top channel surface of the glass cover not only causes the shrinkage of the liquid films in the central microchannel upstream, but also attracts the liquid rivulet populated near the microchannel centerline. (3) The zigzag pattern is formed due to the competition between the evaporation momentum forces at the vapor-liquid interfaces and the force due to the Marangoni effect. The former causes the rivulet to deviate from the channel centerline and the latter draws the rivulet toward the channel centerline. (4) The temperature gradient along the flow direction in the central microchannel downstream causes the breakup of the rivulet to form isolated droplets there. (5) Liquid stripes inside the upstream fluid triangle were caused by the small capillary number of the liquid film, at which the large surface tension force relative to the viscous force tends to populate the liquid film locally on the top glass cover surface.

Room-Temperature Continuous-Wave Operation of InGaN-Based Blue-Violet Laser Diodes with a Lifetime of 15.6 Hours

We report our recent progress of investigations on InGaN-based blue-violet laser diodes (LDs). The room-temperature (RT) cw operation lifetime of LDs has extended to longer than 15.6 h. The LD structure was grown on a c-plane free-standing (FS) GaN substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The typical threshold current and voltage of LD under RT cw operation are 78 mA and 6.8 V, respectively. The experimental analysis of degradation of LD performances suggests that after aging treatment, the increase of series resistance and threshold current can be mainly attributed to the deterioration of p-type ohmic contact and the decrease of internal quantum efficiency of multiple quantum well (MQW), respectively.

PHOTOLUMINESCENCE SPECTRA OF STRAINED HETEROSTRUCTURE OF INP ON GAAS SUBSTRATE GROWN BY METAL-ORGANIC CHEMICAL VAPOR-DEPOSITION

A high-energy shift of the band-band recombination has been observed in photoluminescence spectra of the strained InP layer grown on GaAs substrate. The InP layer is under biaxial compressive strain at temperatures below the growth temperature, because the thermal expansion coefficient of InP is smaller than that of GaAs. The strain value determined by the energy shift of the band-edge peak is in good agreement with the calculated thermal strain. A band to carbon acceptor recombination is also identified.

Threshold behavior in backgating in GaAs metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors: Induced by limitation of channel-substrate junction to leakage current

An analytical model is proposed to understand backgating in GaAs metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MESFETs), in which the effect of channel-substrate (CS) junction is included. We have found that the limitation of CS junction to leakage current will cause backgate voltage to apply directly to CS junction and result in a threshold behavior in backgating effect. A new and valuable expression for the threshold voltage has been obtained. The corresponding threshold electric field is estimated to be in the range of 1000-4000 V/cm and for the first time is in good agreement with reported experimental data. More, the eliminated backgating effect in MESFETs that are fabricated on the GaAs epitaxial layer grown at low temperature is well explained by our theory. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.

Fabrication of an AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As/InAs Resonant Tunneling Diode on InP Substrate for High-Speed Circuit Applications

A high performance AlAs/In0.53 Ga0.47 As/InAs resonant tunneling diode （RTD） on InP substrate is fabricated by inductively coupled plasma etching. This RTD has a peak-to-valley current ratio （PVCR） of 7. 57 and a peak current density Jp = 39.08kA/cm^2 under forward bias at room temperature. Under reverse bias, the corresponding values are 7.93 and 34.56kA/cm^2 . A resistive cutoff frequency of 18.75GHz is obtained with the effect of a parasitic probe pad and wire. The slightly asymmetrical current-voltage characteristics with a nominally symmetrical structure are also discussed.

Temperature Distribution in Ridge Structure InGaN Laser Diodes and Its Influence on Device Characteristics

Time-dependent thermal simulation of ridge-geometry InGaN laser diodes is carried out with a two-dimensional model. A high temperature in the waveguide layer and a large temperature step between the regions under and outside the ridge are generated due to the poor thermal conductivity of the sapphire substrate and the large threshold current and voltage. The temperature step is thought to have a strong influence on the characteristics of the laser diodes. Time-resolved measurements of light-current curves,spectra, and the far-field pattern of the InGaN laser diodes under pulsed operation are performed. The results show that the thermal lensing effect improves the confinement of the higher order modes and leads to a lower threshold current and a higher slope efficiency of the device while the high temperature in the active layer results in a drastic decrease in the slope efficiency.