Influence of growth pressure of a GaN buffer layer on the properties of MOCVD GaN

The influence of growth pressure of GaN buffer layer on the properties of MOCVD GaN on alpha-Al2O3 has been investigated with the aid of a home-made in situ laser reflectometry measurement system. The results obtained with in situ measurements and scanning electron microscope show that with the increase in deposition pressure of buffer layer, the nuclei increase in size, which roughens the surface, and delays the coalescence of GaN nuclei. The optical and crystalline quality of GaN epilayer was improved when buffer layer was deposited at high pressure.

Influences of reactor pressure of GaN buffer layers on morphological evolution of GaN grown by MOCVD

The morphological evolution of GaN thin films grown on sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition was demonstrated to depend strongly on the growth pressure of GaN nucleation layer (NL). For the commonly used two-step growth process, a change in deposition pressure of NL greatly influences the growth mode and morphological evolution of the following GaN epitaxy. By means of atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscope, it is shown that the initial density and the spacing of nucleation sites on the NL and subsequently the growth mode of FIT GaN epilayer may be directly controlled by tailoring the initial low temperature NL growth pressure. A mode is proposed to explain the TD reduction for NL grown at relatively high reactor pressure. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thickness measurement of GaN epilayer using high resolution X-ray diffraction technique

In this paper we propose a new method for measuring the thickness of the GaN epilayer, by using the ratio of the integrated intensity of the GaN epilayer X-ray diffraction peaks to that of the sapphire substrate ones. This ratio shows a linear dependence on the GaN epilayer thickness up to 2 mum. The new method is more accurate and convenient than those of using the relationship between the integrated intensity of GaN epilayer diffraction peaks and the GaN thickness. Besides, it can eliminate the absorption effect of the GaN epilayer.

GaN1-xPx ternary alloys with high P composition grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

GaN1-xPx ternary alloys with high P compositions were deposited on sapphire substrates by means of metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Depth profiles of the elements indicate that the maximum P/N composition ratio is about 17% and a uniform distribution of the P atoms in the alloys is achieved. 2theta/omega XRD spectra demonstrate that the (0002) peak of the GaN1-xPx alloys shifts to smaller angle with increasing P composition. From the photoluminescence (PL) spectra, the red shifts to the bandedge emission of GaN are determined to be 73, 78, 100 and 87 meV for the GaN1-xPx alloys with the P/N composition ratios of 3%, 11%, 15% and 17%, respectively. No PL peak related to GaP is observed, indicating that the phase separation between GaN and GaP is well suppressed in our GaN1-xPx samples. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural and optical characterization of Zn1-xCdxO thin films deposited by dc reactive magnetron sputtering

Zn1-xCdxO crystal thin films with different compositions were prepared on silicon and sapphire substrates by the dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. X-ray diffraction measurements show that the Zn1-xCdxO films are of completely (002)-preferred orientation for x less than or equal to 0.6. For x = 0.8, the Elm is a mixture of ZnO hexagonal wurtzite crystals and CdO cubic crystals. For pure CdO, it is highly (200) preferential-oriented. Photoluminescence spectrum measurement shows that the Zn1-xCdxO (x = 0.2) thin film has a redshift of 0.14 eV from that of ZnO reported previously.

Void formation and failure in InGaN/AlGaN double heterostructures

Condensed clusters of point defects within an InGaN/AlGaN double heterostructure grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy on sapphire substrate have been observed using transmission electron microscopy. The existence of voids results in failure of the heterostructure in electroluminescence. The voids are 50-100 nm in diameter and are distributed inhomogeneously within In0.25Ga0.75N/AlGaN active layers. The density of the voids was measured as 10(15) cm(-3), which corresponds to a density of dangling bonds of 10(20) cm(-3). These dangling bonds may fully deplete free carriers in this double heterostructure and result in the heterostructure having high resistivity as confirmed by electrical measurement. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Metal-semiconductor-metal ultraviolet photodetector based on GaN

A metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) ultraviolet photodetector has been fabricated using unintentionally doped n-GaN films grown on sapphire substrates. Its dark current, photocurrent under the illumination with lambda = 360 nm light, responsivity, and the dependence of responsivity on bias voltage were measured at room temperature. The dark current of the photodetector is 1.03 nA under 5 V bias, and is 15.3 nA under 10 V bias. A maximum responsivity of 0.166 A/W has been achieved under the illumination with lambda = 366 nm light and 15 V bias. It exhibits a typical sharp band-edge cutoff at the wavelength of 366 nm, and a high responsivity at the wavelength from 320 nm to 366 nm. Its responsivity under the illumination with lambda = 360 nm light increases when the bias voltage increases.

High-resolution X-ray diffraction analysis of the Bragg peak integrated intensity in highly mismatched III-N epilayers

A new method of measuring the thickness of GaN epilayers on sapphire (0 0 0 1) substrates by using double crystal X-ray diffraction was proposed. The ratio of the integrated intensity between the GaN epilayer and the sapphire substrate showed a linear relationship with the GaN epilayer thickness up to 2.12 mum. It is practical and convenient to measure the GaN epilayer thickness using this ratio, and can mostly eliminate the effect of the reabsorption, the extinction and other scattering factors of the GaN epilayers. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of novel double-hetero-epitaxial SOT structure Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si

In this paper, we report the fabrication of Si-based double-hetero-epitaxial silicon on insulator (SOI) structure Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si. Firstly, single crystalline gamma-Al2O3(100) insulator films were grown epitaxially on Si(100) using the sources of TMA (Al(CH3)(3)) and O-2 by very low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. Afterwards, Si(100) epitaxial films were grown on gamma-Al2O3 (100)/Si(100) epi-substrates using a chemical vapor deposition method similar to the silicon on sapphire epitaxial growth. The Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si SOL materials are characterized in detail by reflect high-energy electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction and Auger energy spectrum (AES) techniques. The insulator layer of gamma-Al2O3 has an excellent dielectric property. The leakage current is less than 1 x 10(-10) A/cm(2) when the electric field is below 1.3 MV/ cm. The Si film grown on gamma-Al2O3/Si epi-substrates was single crystalline. Meanwhile, the AES depth profile of the SOL structure shows that the composition of gamma-Al2O3 film is uniform, and the carbon contamination is not observed. Additionally, the gamma-Al2O3/Si epi-substrates are suitable candidates as a platform for a variety of active layers such as GaN, SiC and GeSi. It shows a bright future for microelectronic and optical electronics applications. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The growth morphologies of GaN layer on Si(111) substrate

The growth morphologies of metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) grown GaN layer on Si(111) substrate were studied using atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the growth process of GaN/Si(111) consisted of two cycles of island growth and coalescence. These two cycles process differs markedly from that of one cycle process reported. The stress of evolving GaN layers on Si(111) was characterized by measuring the lattice constant c of GaN using X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. It was proposed that the large tensile stress within the film during growth initiated this second island growth cycle, and the interaction between the GaN islands with high orientational fluctuation on the buffer layer induced this large tensile growth stress when coalescence occurred. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Heteroepitaxial growth of novel SOI material Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si

In this paper, we report the fabrication of Si-based double hetero-epitaxial SOI materials Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si. First, single crystalline gamma-Al2O3 (100) insulator films were grown epitaxially on Si(100) by LPCVD, and then, Si(100) epitaxial films were grown on gamma-Al2O3 (100)/Si(100) epi-substrates using a CVD method similar to silicon on sapphire (SOS) epitaxial growth. The Si/gamma-Al2O3 (100)/Si(100) SOI materials are characterized in detail by RHEED, XRD and AES techniques. The results demonstrate that the device-quality novel SOI materials Si/gamma-Al2O3 (100)/Si(100) has been fabricated successfully and can be used for application of MOS device.

Crystallographic tilt in GaN layers grown by epitaxial lateral overgrowth

The crystallographic tilt in GaN layers grown by epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) on sapphire (0001) substrates was investigated by using double crystal X-ray diffraction (DC-XRD). It was found that ELO GaN stripes bent towards the SiNx mask in the direction perpendicular to seeding lines. Each side of GaN (0002) peak in DC-XRD rocking curves was a broad peak related with the crystallographic tilt. This broad peak split into two peaks (denoted as A and B), and peak B disappeared gradually when the mask began to be removed by selective etching. Only narrow peak A remained when the SiNx mask was removed completely. A model based on these results has been developed to show that there are two factors responsible for the crystallographic tilt: One is the non-uniformity elastic deformation caused by the interphase force between the ELO GaN layer and the SiNx mask. The other is the plastic deformation, which is attributed to the change of the threading dislocations (TDs)-from vertical in the window regions to the lateral in the regions over the mask.

The mechanism of blueshift in excitation-intensity-dependent photo luminescence spectrum of nitride multiple quantum wells

(1 1 (2) over bar 0) GaN/InGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) were grown on (1 (2) over bar 0 2) sapphire by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. The excitation-intensity-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of these samples was measured, and no peak shift was observed. This phenomenon was attributed to the absence of piezoelectric field (PEF) along the growth orientation of the (1 1 (2) over bar 0) face MQWs. Our experimental results showed that PEF was the main reason causing peak blueshift in excitation-intensity-dependent PL spectrum of (0 0 0 1) InGaN/GaN NIQWs. It was expected that fabricating (1 1 (2) over bar 0) face nitride device should be a method to avoid PEF and get low-threshold, high-quantum-efficiency and stable-emission-wavelength light-emission devices. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural characteristic of cubic GaN nucleation layers on GaAs(001) substrates by MOCVD

The structural characteristic of cubic GaN (C-GaN) nucleation layers on GaAs(0 0 1) substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition was in detail investigated first by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, using a Huber five-circle diffractometer and an intense synchrotron X-ray source. The XRD results indicate that the C-GaN nucleation layers are highly crystallized. Phi scans and pole figures of the (1 1 1) reflections give a convincing proof that the GaN nucleation layers show exactly cubic symmetrical structure. The GaN(1 1 1) reflections at 54.74degrees in chi are a measurable component, however (002) components parallel to the substrate surface are not detected. Possible explanations are suggested. The pole figures of {1 0 (1) over bar 0} reflections from H-GaN inclusions show that the parasitic H-GaN originates from the C-GaN nucleation layers. The coherence lengths along the close-packed [1 1 1] directions estimated from the (1 1 1) peaks are nanometer order of magnitude. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Investigation on the origin of crystallographic tilt in lateral epitaxial overgrown GaN using selective etching

The crystallographic tilt of the lateral epitaxial overgrown (LEO) GaN on sapphire Substrate with SiNx mask is investiaated by double crystal X-ray diffraction. Two wing peaks beside the GaN 0002 peak can be observed for the as-grown LEO GaN. During the selective etching of SiNx mask, each wing peak splits into two peaks, one of which disappears as the mask is removed, while the other remains unchanged. This indicates that the crystallographic tilt of the overgrown region is caused not only by the plastic deformation resulted from the bending of threading dislocations, but by the non-uniformity elastic deformation related with the GaN, SiNx interfacial forces. The widths of these two peaks are also studied in this paper. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.