Kinetically controlled InN nucleation on GaN templates by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition

This paper presents a study on the nucleation and initial growth kinetics of InN on GaN, especially their dependence on metalorganic chemical vapour deposition conditions. It is found that the density and size of separated InN nano-scale islands can be adjusted and well controlled by changing the V/III ratio and growth temperature. InN nuclei density increases for several orders of magnitude with decreasing growth temperature between 525 and 375 degrees C. At lower growth temperatures, InN thin films take the form of small and closely packed islands with diameters less than 100 nm, whereas at elevated temperatures the InN islands grow larger and become well separated, approaching an equilibrium hexagonal shape due to enhanced surface diffusion of adatoms. The temperature dependence of InN island density gives two activation energies of InN nucleation behaviour, which is attributed to two different kinetic processes related to In adatom surface diffusion and desorption, respectively.

Suppression of indium droplet formation by adding CCl4 during metalorganic chemical vapor deposition growth of InN films

In this work, the influences of CCl4 on the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth of InN were studied for the first time. It was found that the addition of CCl4 can effectively suppress the formation of metal indium (In) droplets during InN growth, which was ascribed to the etching effect of Cl to In. However, with increasing of CCl4 flow, the InN growth rate decreased but the lateral growth of InN islands was enhanced. This provides a possibility of promoting islands coalescence toward a smooth surface of the InN film by MOCVD. The influence of addition of CCl4 on the electrical properties was also investigated.

Annealing behaviors of long-wavelength InAs/GaAs quantum dots with different growth procedures by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

The effects of annealing on the optical properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown under different conditions by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) are studied. A lower QD growth rate leads to an earlier and faster decrease of QD photoluminescence (PL) intensity with increasing annealing temperature. which is proposed to be related to the increased QD two-dimensional (2D)-three-dimensional (3D) transition critical layer thickness at low QD growth rate. High-quality GaAs cap layers grown at high temperature and a low deposition rate are shown to decrease the blueshift of the QDs' emission wavelength significantly during in-situ I h annealing experiments, which is important for the fabrication of long-wavelength InAs/GaAs QD lasers by MOCVD technique. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis and characterization of well-aligned Zn1-xMgxO nanorods and film by metal organic chemical vapor deposition

Well-aligned Zn1-xMgxO nanorods and film with Mg-content x from 0 to 0.051 have been successfully synthesized by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) without any catalysts. The characterization results showed that the diameters and lengths of the nanorods were in the range of 20-80 nm and 330-360 nm, which possessed wurtzite structure with a c-axis growth direction. As the increase of Mg precursor flows into the growth chamber, the morphology of Zn1-xMgxO evolves from nanorods to a film with scale-like surface and the height of the nanorods and the film was almost identical, it is suggested that the growth rate along the c-axis was hardly changed while the growth of six equivalent facets of the type {1 0 (1) over bar 0} of the Zn1-xMgxO has been improved. Photoluminescence and Raman spectra show that the products have a good crystal quality with few oxygen vacancies. With the Mg incorporation, multiple-phonon scattering become weak and broad, and the intensities of all observed vibrational modes decrease. And the ultraviolet near-band-edge emission shows a clear blueshift (x=0.051, as much as 90 meV) and slightly broadening compared with that of pure ZnO nanorods. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bulge testing and fracture properties of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited silicon nitride thin films

The mechanical properties and fracture behavior of silicon nitride (SiNx) thin film fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is reported. Plane-strain moduli, prestresses, and fracture strengths of silicon nitride thin film; deposited both oil a bare Si substrate and oil a thermally oxidized Si substrate were extracted using bulge testing combined with a refined load-deflection model of long rectangular membranes. The plane-strain modu i and prestresses of SiNx thin films have little dependence on the substrates, that is, for the bare Si substrate, they are 133 +/- 19 GPa and 178 +/- 22 MPa, respectively, while for the thermally oxidized substrate, they are 140 +/- 26 Gila and 194 +/- 34 MPa, respectively. However, the fracture strength values of SiNx films grown on the two substrates are quite different, i.e., 1.53 +/- 0.33 Gila and 3.08 +/- 0.79 GPa for the bare Si substrate a A the oxidized Si substrate, respectively. The reference stresses were computed by integrating the local stress of the membrane at the fracture over the edge, Surface, and volume of the specimens and fitted with the Weibull distribution function. For SiNx thin film produced oil the bare Si Substrate, the Volume integration gave a significantly better agreement between data and model, implying that the volume flaws re the dominant fracture origin. For SiNx thin film grown on the oxidized Si substrate, the fit quality of surface and edge integration was significantly better than the Volume integration, and the dominant surface and edge flaws could be caused by buffered HF attacking the SiNx layer during SiO2 removal. Crown Copyright (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Al composition variations in AlGaN films grown on low-temperature GaN buffer layer by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We have investigated the optical properties of AlGaN grown on sapphire. It is found that two main luminescence peaks occur in the cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra of AlGaN films, and their energy separation increases with the increase of Al source flux during the growth. Spatially resolved CL investigations have shown that the line splitting is a result of variation of AlN mole fraction within the layer. The Al composition varies in both lateral and vertical direction. It is suggested that the difference in the surface mobility of Al and Ga atoms, especially, its strong influence on the initial island coalescence process and the formation of island-like regions on the uneven film surface, is responsible for the Al composition inhomogeneity. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Defect evolution and accompanied change of electrical properties during the GaN growth by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

The defect evolution and its correlation with electrical properties of GaN films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition are investigated. It is found that the dislocation density decreases gradually during the growth process, and the dislocation reduction rate in the island coalescence process is especially rapid. The changes in electron mobility of GaN with the increase of growth time are mainly dependent on the dislocations acting as scattering centers. Furthermore, the variation of carrier concentration in GaN may be related with the point defects and their clusters. The quality of GaN could be improved by suitably increasing the film thickness. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Phase-separation suppression in GaN-rich side of GaNP alloys grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

The GaN-rich side of GaNP ternary alloys has been successfully synthesized by light-radiation heating and low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. X-ray diffraction (XRD) rocking curves show that the ( 0002) peak of GaNP shifts to a smaller angle with increasing P content. From the GaNP photoluminescence (PL) spectra, the red shifts from the band-edge emission of GaN are determined to be 73, 78 and 100 meV, respectively, in the GaNP alloys with the P contents of 1.5%, 5.5% and 7.5%. No PL peak or XRD peak related to GaP is observed, indicating that phase separation induced by the short-range distribution of GaP-rich regions in the GaNP layer has been effectively suppressed. The phase-separation suppression in the GaNP layer is associated with the high growth rate and the quick cooling rate under the given growth conditions, which can efficiently restrain the accumulation of P atoms in the GaNP layer.

Surface morphology of AlN buffer layer and its effect on GaN growth by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

The in situ optical reflectivity measurements are employed to monitor the GaN epilayer growth process above low-temperature AlN buffer layer on c-plane sapphire substrate by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. It is found that the lateral growth of GaN islands and their coalescence is promoted in the initial growth stage if the AlN buffer layer is treated with a long annealing time and has an optimal thickness: As confirmed by atomic force microscopy observations, the quality of GaN epilayers is closely dependent on the surface morphology of AlN buffer layer, especially the grain size and nuclei density after the annealing treatment. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Chemical liquid phase deposition of thin aluminum oxide films

Thin aluminum oxide films were deposited by a new and simple physicochemical method called chemical liquid phase deposition (CLD) on semiconductor materials. Aluminum sulfate with crystallized water and sodium bicarbonate were used as precursors for film growth, and the control of the system's pH value played an important role in this experiment. The growth rate is 12 nm/h with the deposition at [Al-2(SO4)(3)]=0.0837 mol.L-1, [NaHCO3]=0.214 mol.L-1, 15 degreesC. Post-growth annealing not only densifies and purifies the films, but results in film crystallization as well. Excellent quality of Al2O3 films in this work is supported by electron dispersion spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrum, X-ray diffraction spectrum and scanning electron microscopy photograph.

Structural and optical properties of 3D growth multilayer InGaN/GaN quantum dots by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Multilayer InGaN/GaN quantum dots (QDs) were grown on sapphire substrates through a three-dimensional growth mode, which was initiated by a special passivation processing introduced into the normal growth procedure. Surface morphology and photoluminescence properties of QDs with different stacking periods (from one to four) were investigated. The temperature dependences of the PL peak energies were found to show a great difference between two-layer and three-layer QDs. The fast redshift and the reversed sigmoidal temperature dependences of the PL energies for the former were attributed to the thermally activated carrier transfer from small to large dots. However, the increase of both the dot size and the spatial space among dots with the growing stacking periods reduced the carrier escape and retrapping. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thermo-optic variable optical attenuator with low power consumption fabricated on silicon-on-insulator by anisotropic chemical etching

A thermo-optic Mach-Zehnder (MZ) variable optical attenuator based on silicon waveguides with a large cross section was designed and fabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. Multimode interferometers were used as power splitters and combiners in the MZ structure. In order to achieve a smooth interface, anisotropic chemical etching of silicon was used to fabricate the waveguides. Isolating grooves were introduced to reduce power consumption and device length. The device has a low power consumption of 210 mW and a response time of 50 mus. (C) 2004 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Low power 2 x 2 thermo-optic SOI waveguide switch fabricated by anisotropy chemical etching

A 2 x 2 thermo-optic (TO) Mach-Zehnder (MZ) switch based on silicon waveguides with large cross section was designed and fabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. The multi-mode interferometers (MMI) were used as power splitter and combiner in MZ structure. In order to get smooth interface, anisotropy chemical wet-etching of silicon was used to fabricate the waveguides instead of dry-etching. Additional grooves were introduced to reduce power consumption. The device has a low switching power of 235 mW and a switching speed of 60 mus. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Parameters determining crystallinity in beta-SiC thin films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition

The effects of deposition gas pressure and H-2 dilution ratio (H-2/SiH4+CH4+H-2), generally considered two of dominant parameters determining crystallinity in beta-SiC thin films prepared by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD), often called hot-wire CVD method, on the films properties have been systematically studied. As deposition gas pressure increase from 40 to 1000 Pa, the crystallinity of the films is improved. From the study of H-2 dilution ratio, it is considered that H-2 plays a role as etching gas and modulating the phases in beta-SiC thin films. On the basis of the study on the parameters, nanocrystalline beta-SiC films were successfully synthesized on Si substrate at a low temperature of 300degreesC. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra show formation of beta-SiC. Moreover, according to Sherrer equation, the average grain size of the films estimated is in nanometer-size. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Formation of self-assembly and the mechanism of Si nanoquantum dots prepared by low pressure chemical vapor deposition

Si nanoquantum dots have been formed by self-assembled growth on the both Si-O-Si and Si-OH bonds terminated SiO2 surfaces using the low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) and surface thermal decomposition of pure SiH4 gas. We have experimentally studied the variation of Si. dot density with Si-OH bonds density, deposition temperature and SiH4 pressure, and analyzed qualitatively the formation mechanism of the Si nanoquantum dots based on LPCVD surface thermal dynamics principle. The results are very. important for the control of the density and size of Si nanoquantum dots, and have potential applications in the new quantum devices.