Hydrothermal growth and characterization of ZnO crystals

ZnO crystals with dimensions of 30 x 38 x 8 turn 3 have been grown by the hydrothermal method using a mixed solution of KOH, LiOH and H2O2. The growing rates for +c(0001) and -c(000 (1) over bar) were 0.17 and 0.09 mm/day, respectively. The crystal color was very light green for +c sector and dark brown for -c sector. For the +c sector, the resistivity at room temperature was 80 0 cm, the carrier concentration was about 10(4)/cm(3), and the mobility was about 100 cm(2)/Vs. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of double axis X-ray rocking curve for the polished Zn face cut from +c sector was 45 arcsec. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum and the absorption spectrum of +c part of the crystals at room temperature were also reported and discussed in this paper. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The influence of low-temperature Ge seed layer on growth of high-quality Ge epilayer on Si(100) by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition

High-quality Ge epilayer on Si(1 0 0) substrate with an inserted low-temperature Ge seed layer and a thin Si0.77Ge0.23 layer was grown by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition. The epitaxial Ge layer with surface root-mean-square roughness of 0.7 nm and threading dislocation density of 5 x 10(5) cm(-2) was obtained. The influence of low temperature Ge seed layer on the quality of Ge epilayer was investigated. We demonstrated that the relatively higher temperature (350 degrees C) for the growth of Ge seed layer significantly improved the crystal quality and the Hall hole mobility of the Ge epilayer. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Investigation of native defects and property of bulk ZnO single crystal grown by a closed chemical vapor transport method

Hall effect, Raman scattering, photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), optical absorption (OA), mass spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction have been used to study bulk ZnO single crystal grown by a closed chemical vapor transport method. The results indicate that shallow donor impurities (Ga and Al) are the dominant native defects responsible for n-type conduction of the ZnO single crystal. PL and OA results suggest that the as-grown and annealed ZnO samples with poor lattice perfection exhibit strong deep level green photoluminescence and weak ultraviolet luminescence. The deep level defect in as-grown ZnO is identified to be oxygen vacancy. After high-temperature annealing, the deep level photoluminescence is suppressed in ZnO crystal with good lattice perfection. In contrast, the photoluminescence is nearly unchanged or even enhanced in ZnO crystal with grain boundary or mosaic structure. This result indicates that a trapping effect of the defect exists at the grain boundary in ZnO single crystal. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Growth of (10(1)over-bar(3)over-bar) semipolar GaN on m-plane sapphire by hydride vapor phase epitaxy

The crystalline, surface, and optical properties of the (10 (1) over bar(3) over bar) semipolar GaN directly grown on m-plane sapphire substrates by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) were investigated. It was found that the increase of V/III ratio led to high quality (10 (1) over bar(3) over bar) oriented GaN epilayers with a morphology that may have been produced by step-flow growth and with minor evidence of anisotropic crystalline structure. After etching in the mixed acids, the inclined pyramids dominated the GaN surface with a density of 2 X 10(5) cm(-2), revealing the N-polarity characteristic. In the low-temperature PL spectra, weak BSF-related emission at 3.44eV could be observed as a shoulder of donor-bound exciton lines for the epilayer at high V/III ratio, which was indicative of obvious reduction of BSFs density. In comparison with other defect related emissions, a different quenching behavior was found for the 3.29 eV emission, characterized by the temperature-dependent PL measurement. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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.

Growth and characterization of GaInNAs by molecular beam epitaxy using a nitrogen irradiation method

We propose an innovative technique, making use of the In segregation effect, referred as the N irradiation method, to enhance In-N bonding and extend the emission wavelength of GaInNAs quantum wells (QWs). After the formation of a complete In floating layer, the growth is interrupted and N irradiation is initiated. The majority of N atoms are forced to bond with In atoms and their incorporation is regulated independently by the N exposure time and the As pressure. The effect of the N exposure time and As pressure on the N incorporation and the optical quality of GaInNAs QWs were investigated. Anomalous photoluminescence (PL) wavelength red shifts after rapid thermal annealing (RTA) were observed in the N-irradiated samples, whereas a normal GaInNAs sample revealed a blue shift. This method provides an alternative way to extend the emission wavelength of GaInNAs QWs with decent optical quality. We demonstrate light emission at 1546 nm from an 11-nm-thick QW, using this method and the PL intensity is similar to that of a 7-nm-thick GaInNAs QW grown at a reduced rate. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Growth behavior of AlInGaN films

The structural and surface properties of AlInGaN quaternary films grown at different temperatures on GaN templates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition are investigated. Formation of two quaternary layers is confirmed and the difference between them is pronounced when the growth temperature is increased. The surface is featured with V-shaped pits and cracks, whose characteristics are further found to be strongly dependent on the growth temperature of AlInGaN layers. The two-layer structure is interpreted by taking into account of the strain status in AlInGaN layers. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Growth of c-oriented ZnO films on (001) SMO3 substrates by MOCVD

The growth direction of ZnO thin films grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is modulated by pretreatment of (001) SMO3 (STO) substrates. ZnO films show a-oriented smooth surface with epitaxial relationship of < 001 > ZnO//< 110 > STO on as-received SfO, and c-axis columnar growth with < 010 > ZnO//< 110 > STO on etched STO, respectively. The orientation alteration of ZnO films is supposed to be caused by the change of STO surface polarity. In addition, the c-ZnO films exhibit an enhanced photoluminescence (PL) intensity due to the improved crystal quality, while the blueshift of PL peak is attributed to the smaller tensile strain. These results show that high quality c-ZnO, which is essential for electronic and optoelectronic device applications, can be grown on (001) SfO by MOCVD. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimizing the GaAs capping layer growth of 1.3 mu m InAs/GaAs quantum dots by a combined two-temperature and annealing process at low temperatures

We report on optimizing the GaAs capping layer growth of 1.3 mu m InAs quantum dots (QDs) by a combined two-temperature and annealing process at low temperatures using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The initial part (tnm) of the capping layer is deposited at a low temperature of 500 degrees C, which is the same for the growth of both the QDs and a 5-nm-thick In0.15Ga0.85As strain-reducing capping layer on the QDs, while the remaining part is grown at a higher temperature of 560 degrees C after a rapid temperature rise and subsequent annealing period at this temperature. The capping layer is deposited at the low temperatures (<= 560 degrees C) to avoid postgrowth annealing effect that can blueshift the emission wavelength of the QDs. We demonstrate the existence of an optimum t (=5 nm) and a critical annealing time (>= 450s) during the capping, resulting in significantly enhanced photoluminescence from the QDs. This significant enhancement in photoluminescence is attributed to a dramatic reduction of defects due to the optimized capping growth. The technique reported here has important implications for realizing stacked 1.3 mu m InAs/GaAs QD lasers. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Growth of crack-free AlGaN film on thin AlN interlayer by MOCVD

We have studied the effect of low-temperature-deposited (LT) and high-temperature-deposited (FIT) AlN interlayer with various thickness on AlGaN film grown on GaN using c-plane sapphire as substrate. All the Al0.25Ga0.75N films thicker than 1 mum with LT-AlN interlayer or with HT-AlN interlayer were free of cracks, however, their surfaces were different: the Al0.25Ga0.75N films with LT-AlN interlayer showed smooth surface, while those with HT-AlN interlayer exhibit rough surface morphology. The results of X-ray double crystal diffraction and Rutherford backscattering showed that all of the AlGaN films were under compressive strain in the parallel direction. The compressive strain resulted from the effect of interlayer-induced stress relieving and the thermal mismatch for the samples with LT-AlN interlayer, and it was due to the thermal mismatch between AlGaN and the underlying layers for those with HT-AlN interlayer. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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.

Ordering growth of InAs quantum dots on ultra-thin InGaAs strained layer

InAs quantum dots (QDs) were grown On Ultra-thin In0.15Ga0.85As strained layers by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs (00 1) substrates. Combining reflection high-energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, we analyzed the stress field of dislocations in the strained layer/substrate interface. Specially, we revealed the relative position of QDs and dislocations. We found that the difference of the stress field around dislocations is prominent when the strained layer is ultra-thin and the stress field will directly affect the following growth. On the strained layer surface, In0.15Ga0.85As ridges will form at the inclined upside of dislocations. Then, InAs QDs will prefer nucleating on the ridges, there is relatively small stress between InAs and In0.15Ga0.85As. By selecting ultra-thin In0.15Ga0.85As layer (50 nm) and controlling the QD layer at just form QDs, we obtained ordered InAs QDs. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of the growth temperature of the high-temperature AlN buffer on the properties of GaN grown on Si(111) substrate

We have studied the influence of the growth temperature of the high-temperature (HT) AIN buffer layer on the properties of the GaN epilayer which was grown on Si(111) substrate by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). It was found that the crystal quality of the GaN epilayer strongly depends on the growth temperature of the HT-AIN buffer. The growth temperature of the AIN buffer to obtain high-quality GaN epilayers lies in a narrow window of several tens of degrees. When the temperature is lower than a certain temperature range, the appearance of AIN polycrystals results in the deterioration of the crystal quality of the AIN buffer layer, which is greatly disadvantageous to the coalescence of the GaN epilayer. Although the AIN buffer's crystal quality is improved as the growth temperature increases, the Si outdiffusion from the substrate is also enhanced when the temperature is higher than a certain temperature range, which will demolish the subsequent growth of the GaN epilayer. Therefore, there exists an optimum growth temperature range of the AIN buffer around 1080degreesC for the growth of high-quality GaN epilayers. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Growth of heavily Zn-doped InGaAs at low temperature by LP-MOCVD

Epitaxial growth of Zn-doped InGaAs on InP substrates has been carried out at 550degreesC by LP-MOCVD. Hole concentration as high as 6 x 10(19)cm(-3) has been achieved at the H-2 flow rate of 20 sccm through DEZn bubbler. The lattice constant of Zn-doped InGaAs was found to be dependent on the flow rate of DEZn, and the tensile strain mismatch increases with increasing H-2 flow rate of DEZn. The negative lattice mismatch of heavily Zn-dopped InGaAs may be due to, the small covalent bonding radius of zinc and the combination of butane from ethyl of DEZn,and TEGa. And the latter accelerates the pyrolysis of TEGa, which is the dominant mechanism in determining the negative mismatch of Zn-doped InGaAs. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of the N/Al ratio of AlN buffer on the crystal properties and stress state of GaN film grown on Si(111) substrate

The effect of the N/Al ratio of AlN buffers on the optical and crystal quality of GaN films, grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on Si(111) substrates, has been investigated. By optimizing the N/Al ratio during the AlN buffer, the threading dislocation density and the tensile stress have been decreased. High-resolution X-ray diffraction exhibited a (0002) full-width at half-maximum as low as 396 acrsec. The variations of the tensile stress existing in the GaN films were approved by the redshifts of the donor bound exiton peaks in the low-temperature photoluminescence measurement at 77 K. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.