Carrier capture by threading dislocations in (In,Ga)N/GaN heteroepitaxial layers

Using spatially resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy, we investigate the spatial luminescence distribution in a fully strained (In,Ga)N layer, in particular, its correlation with the distribution of threading dislocations (TDs). Regarding the impact of TDs on the luminescence properties, we can clearly distinguish between pure edge-type TDs and TDs with screw component. At the positions of both types of TDs, we establish nonradiative recombination sinks. The radius for carrier capture is at least four times larger for TDs with screw component as for pure edge-type TDs. The large capture radius of the former is due to a spiral-like growth mode resulting in an increase in the In content in the center of the spiral domains in comparison to their periphery.

Characterization of stress induced in SOS and Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si heteroepitaxial thin films by Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy technique has been performed to investigate the stress induced in as-grown silicon-on-sapphire (SOS), solid-phase-epitaxy (SPE) re-grown SOS, and Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si double-heteroepitaxial thin films. It was demonstrated that the residual stress in SOS film, arising from mismatch and difference of thermal expansion coefficient between silicon and sapphire, was reduced efficiently by SPE process, and that the stress in Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si thin film is much smaller than that of as-grown SOS and SPE upgraded SOS films. The stress decrease for double heteroepitaxial film Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si mainly arises from the smaller lattice mismatching of 2.4% between silicon top layer and the gamma-Al2O3/Si epitaxiial composite substrate, comparing with the large lattice mismatch of 13% for SOS films. It indicated that gamma-Al2O3/Si as a silicon-based epitaxial substrate benefits for reducing the residual stress for further growth of silicon layer, compared with on bulk sapphire substrate. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

ECR plasma in growth of cubic GaN by low pressure MOCVD

To heteroepitaxally grow the crystalline cubic-GaN (c-GaN) film on the substrates with large lattice mismatch is basically important for fabricating the blue or ultraviolet laser diodes based on cubic group III nitride materials. We have obtained the crystalline c-GaN film and the heteroepitaxial interface between c-Gan and GaAs (001) substrate by the ECR Plasma-Assisted Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (PA-MOCVD) under low-pressure and low-temperature (similar to600degreesC) on a homemade ECR-plasma Semiconductor Processing Device (ESPD). In order to decrease the growth temperature, the ECR plasma source was adopted as the activated nitrogen source, therefore the working pressure of MOCVD was decreased down to the region less than 1 Pa. To eliminate the damages from energetic ions of current plasma source, a Multi-cusp cavity,coupling ECR Plasma source (MEP) was selected to use in our experiment. To decrease the strain and dislocations induced from the large lattice mismatch between c-GaN and GaAs substrate, the plasma pretreatment procedure i.e., the initial growth technique was investigated The experiment arrangements, the characteristics of plasma and the growth procedure, the characteristics on-GaN film and interface between c-GaN and GaAs(001), and the roles of ECR plasma are described in this contribution.

Molecular Beam Epitaxial Growth of III-V Semiconductor Nanostructures on Silicon Substrates

The main focus and concerns of this PhD thesis is the growth of III-V semiconductor nanostructures (Quantum dots (QDs) and quantum dashes) on silicon substrates using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technique. The investigation of influence of the major growth parameters on their basic properties (density, geometry, composition, size etc.) and the systematic characterization of their structural and optical properties are the core of the research work. The monolithic integration of III-V optoelectronic devices with silicon electronic circuits could bring enormous prospect for the existing semiconductor technology. Our challenging approach is to combine the superior passive optical properties of silicon with the superior optical emission properties of III-V material by reducing the amount of III-V materials to the very limit of the active region. Different heteroepitaxial integration approaches have been investigated to overcome the materials issues between III-V and Si. However, this include the self-assembled growth of InAs and InGaAs QDs in silicon and GaAx matrices directly on flat silicon substrate, sitecontrolled growth of (GaAs/In0,15Ga0,85As/GaAs) QDs on pre-patterned Si substrate and the direct growth of GaP on Si using migration enhanced epitaxy (MEE) and MBE growth modes. An efficient ex-situ-buffered HF (BHF) and in-situ surface cleaning sequence based on atomic hydrogen (AH) cleaning at 500 °C combined with thermal oxide desorption within a temperature range of 700-900 °C has been established. The removal of oxide desorption was confirmed by semicircular streaky reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) patterns indicating a 2D smooth surface construction prior to the MBE growth. The evolution of size, density and shape of the QDs are ex-situ characterized by atomic-force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The InAs QDs density is strongly increased from 108 to 1011 cm-2 at V/III ratios in the range of 15-35 (beam equivalent pressure values). InAs QD formations are not observed at temperatures of 500 °C and above. Growth experiments on (111) substrates show orientation dependent QD formation behaviour. A significant shape and size transition with elongated InAs quantum dots and dashes has been observed on (111) orientation and at higher Indium-growth rate of 0.3 ML/s. The 2D strain mapping derived from high-resolution TEM of InAs QDs embedded in silicon matrix confirmed semi-coherent and fully relaxed QDs embedded in defectfree silicon matrix. The strain relaxation is released by dislocation loops exclusively localized along the InAs/Si interfaces and partial dislocations with stacking faults inside the InAs clusters. The site controlled growth of GaAs/In0,15Ga0,85As/GaAs nanostructures has been demonstrated for the first time with 1 μm spacing and very low nominal deposition thicknesses, directly on pre-patterned Si without the use of SiO2 mask. Thin planar GaP layer was successfully grown through migration enhanced epitaxy (MEE) to initiate a planar GaP wetting layer at the polar/non-polar interface, which work as a virtual GaP substrate, for the GaP-MBE subsequently growth on the GaP-MEE layer with total thickness of 50 nm. The best root mean square (RMS) roughness value was as good as 1.3 nm. However, these results are highly encouraging for the realization of III-V optical devices on silicon for potential applications.

Epitaxial growth of ultrathin palladium films on Re{0001}

Ultrathin bimetallic layers create unusual magnetic and surface chemical effects through the modification of electronic structure brought on by low dimensionality, polymorphism, reduced screening, and epitaxial strain. Previous studies have related valence and core-level shifts to surface reactivity through the d-band model of Hammer and Nørskov, and in heteroepitaxial films this band position is determined by competing effects of coordination, strain, and hybridization of substrate and overlayer states. In this study we employ the epitaxially matched Pd on Re{0001} system to grow films with no lateral strain. We use a recent advancement in low-energy electron diffraction to expand the data range sufficiently for a reliable determination of the growth sequence and out-of-plane surface relaxation as a function of film thickness. The results are supported by scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, which show that the growth is layer-by-layer with significant core-level shifts due to changes in film structure, morphology, and bonding.

Si(100) versus Ge(100): Watching the interface formation for the growth of III-V-based solar cells on abundant substrates

We investigated the atomic surface properties of differently prepared silicon and germanium (100) surfaces during metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy/chemical vapour deposition (MOVPE/MOCVD), in particular the impact of the MOVPE ambient, and applied reflectance anisotropy/difference spectroscopy (RAS/RDS) in our MOVPE reactor to in-situ watch and control the preparation on the atomic length scale for subsequent III-V-nucleation. The technological interest in the predominant opto-electronic properties of III-V-compounds drives the research for their heteroepitaxial integration on more abundant and cheaper standard substrates such as Si(100) or Ge(100). In these cases, a general task must be accomplished successfully, i.e. the growth of polar materials on non-polar substrates and, beyond that, very specific variations such as the individual interface formation and the atomic step structure, have to be controlled. Above all, the method of choice to grow industrial relevant high-performance device structures is MOVPE, not normally compatible with surface and interface sensitive characterization tools, which are commonly based on ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) ambients. A dedicated sample transfer system from MOVPE environment to UHV enabled us to benchmark the optical in-situ spectra with results from various surfaces science instruments without considering disruptive contaminants. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provided direct observation of different terminations such as arsenic and phosphorous and verified oxide removal under various specific process parameters. Absorption lines in Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra were used to identify specific stretch modes of coupled hydrides and the polarization dependence of the anti-symmetric stretch modes distinguished different dimer orientations. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) studied the atomic arrangement of dimers and steps and tip-induced H-desorption proved the saturation of dangling bonds after preparati- n. In-situ RAS was employed to display details transiently such as the presence of H on the surface at lower temperatures (T <; 800°C) and the absence of Si-H bonds at elevated annealing temperature and also surface terminations. Ge buffer growth by the use of GeH4 enables the preparation of smooth surfaces and leads to a more pronounced amplitude of the features in the spectra which indicates improvements of the surface quality.

Growth of boehmite nanofibers by assembling nanoparticles with surfactant micelles

It is known that boehmite (AlOOH) nanofibers formed in the presence of nonionic poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) surfactant at 373 K. A novel approach is proposed in this study for the growth of the boehmite nanofibers: when fresh aluminum hydrate precipitate was added at regular interval to initial mixture of boehmite and PEO surfactant at 373 K, the nanofibers grow from 40 to 50 nm long to over 100 nm. It is believed that the surfactant micelles play an important role in the nanofiber growth: directing the assembly of aluminum hydrate particles through hydrogen bonding with the hydroxyls on the surface of aluminum hydrate particles. Meanwhile a gradual improvement in the crystallinity of the fibers during growth is observed and attributed to the Ostwald ripening process. This approach allows us to precisely control the size and morphology of boehmite nanofibers using soft chemical methods and could be useful for low temperature, aqueous syntheses of other oxide nanomaterials with tailorable structural specificity such as size, dimension and morphology.