Yb：Ca5（PO4）3F激光晶体的生长缺陷

采用提拉法生长了质量优异的Yb：Ca5（PO4）2F（Yb：FAP）晶体。运用化学腐蚀，光学显微镜、扫描电子显微镜以及能量散射光谱仪观察了该晶体中的生长条纹和包裹物等宏观缺陷，以及晶体的位错腐蚀形貌、位错密度及其分布情况，同时观察了晶体中亚晶界的形态。由晶体中位错的径向变化以及生长条纹可知：晶体在生长过程中为微凸界面生长。高温下CaF2的挥发造成了在晶体生长后期熔体中组分偏离化学计量比，出现组分过冷，形成包裹物。且位错密度显著增加。Yb：FAP晶体的各向异性使得晶体在（10 10）面的位错蚀坑形状、大小以

提拉法Ti:LiAlO_2晶体的生长、缺陷及N_2退火研究

本文采用提拉法成功地生长了钛掺杂浓度为0.1%原子分数的LiAlO2单晶体,借助光学显微镜,结合化学腐蚀法,对Ti:LiAlO2晶体(100)面空气退火前后的缺陷特征进行了研究,用AFM观测了(100)面晶片在不同温度下流动N2气氛退火过的表面形貌。结果表明:Ti:LiAlO2晶体(100)面的位错腐蚀坑是底面为平行四边形的锥形坑,位错密度约为5.0×104cm-2,900℃空气退火后晶片表面的位错腐蚀坑变大;N2退火能显著影响晶片的表面形貌,当退火温度为900℃时,晶片的均方根粗糙度(RMS)达到最低值

导模法和温度梯度法生长r面蓝宝石(英文)

r面(0112)蓝宝石晶体可用作制备非极性GaN薄膜的衬底。采用温度梯度法(temperature gradient technique,TGT)和导模法(edge-defined film-fed crystal growth,EFG)生长了质量良好的r面蓝宝石晶体。利用双晶衍射、光学显微镜、光谱仪观察和分析了晶体的结构和缺陷。结果表明:TGT法生长的r蓝宝石晶体的双晶摇摆曲线对称性好,半高宽值仅为18 rad.s,位错密度为4×103 cm-2,透过率达83%,晶体质量好。与TGT法相比,EFG法生长的r面蓝宝石晶体的结构完整性较差,位错密度为5×105 cm-2,透过率仅为75%。但是EFG法具有晶体生长速度快,后期加工成本低的优点。

Growth, etching morphology and spectra of LiAlO2 crystal

gamma-LiAlO2 single crystal was successfully grown by Czochralski method. The crystal quality was characterized by X-ray rocking curve and chemical etching. The effects of air-annealing and vapor transport equilibration (VTE) on the crystal quality, etch pits and absorption spectra of LiAlO2 were also investigated in detail. The results show that the as-grown crystal has very high quality with the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 17.7-22.6 arcsec. Dislocation density in the middle part of the crystal is as low as about 3.0 x 10(3) cm(-2). The VTE-treated slice has larger FWHM value, etch pits density and absorption coefficient as compared with those of untreated and air-annealed slices, which indicates that the crystal quality became inferior after VTE treatment. (C) 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Low-cost high-efficiency GaN LED on large-area si substrate

The use of large size Si substrates for epitaxy of nitride light emitting diode (LED) structures has attracted great interest because Si wafers are readily available in large diameter at low cost. In addition, such wafers are compatible with existing processing lines for the 6-inch and larger wafer sizes commonly used in the electronics industry. With the development of various methods to avoid wafer cracking and reduce the defect density, the performance of GaN-based LED and electronic devices has been greatly improved. In this paper, we review our methods of growing crack-free InGaN-GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) LED structures of high crystalline quality on Si(111) substrates. The performance of processed LED devices and its dependence on the threading dislocation density were studied. Full wafer-level LED processing using a conventional 6-inch III-V processing line is also presented, demonstrating the great advantage of using large-size Si substrates for mass production of GaN LED devices.

Effect of surface treatment of GaN based light emitting diode wafers on the leakage current of light emitting diode devices

To form low-resistance Ohmic contact to p-type GaN, InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light emitting diode wafers are treated with boiled aqua regia prior to Ni/Au (5 nm/5 nm) film deposition. The surface morphology of wafers and the current-voltage characteristics of fabricated light emitting diode devices are investigated. It is shown that surface treatment with boiled aqua regia could effectively remove oxide from the surface of the p-GaN layer, and reveal defect-pits whose density is almost the same as the screw dislocation density estimated by x-ray rocking curve measurement. It suggests that the metal atoms of the Ni/Au transparent electrode of light emitting diode devices may diffuse into the p-GaN layer along threading dislocation lines and form additional leakage current channels. Therefore, the surface treatment time with boiled aqua regia should not be too long so as to avoid the increase of threading dislocation-induced leakage current and the degradation of electrical properties of light emitting diodes

Influence of AlN buffer layer thickness on structural properties of GaN epilayer grown on Si (111) substrate with AlGaN interlayer

We present the growth of GaN epilayer on Si (111) substrate with a single AlGaN interlayer sandwiched between the GaN epilayer and AlN buffer layer by using the metalorganic chemical vapour deposition. The influence of the AlN buffer layer thickness on structural properties of the GaN epilayer has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, optical microscopy and high-resolution x-ray diffraction. It is found that an AlN buffer layer with the appropriate thickness plays an important role in increasing compressive strain and improving crystal quality during the growth of AlGaN interlayer, which can introduce a more compressive strain into the subsequent grown GaN layer, and reduce the crack density and threading dislocation density in GaN film.

Role of Ga vacancies in enhancing the leakage current of GaN Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetectors

The leakage current of GaN Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetectors is investigated. It is found that the photodetectors adopting undoped GaN instead of lightly Si-doped GaN as an active layer show a much lower leakage current even when they have a higher dislocation density. It is also found that the density of Ga vacancies in undoped GaN is much lower than in Si-doped GaN. The Ga vacancies may enhance tunneling and reduce effective Schottky barrier height, leading to an increase of leakage current. It suggests that when undoped GaN is used as the active layer, it is necessary to reduce the leakage current of GaN Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetector.

Promoting strain relaxation of Si0.72Ge0.28 film on Si (100) substrate by inserting a low-temperature Ge islands layer in UHVCVD

A flat, fully strain-relaxed Si0.72Ge0.28 thin film was grown on Si (1 0 0) substrate with a combination of thin low-temperature (LT) Ge and LT-Si0.72Ge0.28 buffer layers by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition. The strain relaxation ratio in the Si0.72Ge0.28 film was enhanced up to 99% with the assistance of three-dimensional Ge islands and point defects introduced in the layers, which furthermore facilitated an ultra-low threading dislocation density of 5 x 10(4) cm (2) for the top SiGe film. More interestingly, no cross-hatch pattern was observed on the SiGe surface and the surface root-mean-square roughness was less than 2 nm. The temperature for the growth of LT-Ge layer was optimized to be 300 degrees C. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-temperature AlN interlayer for crack-free AlGaN growth on GaN

This paper presents a study of the transformation of high-temperature AlN (HT-AlN) interlayer (IL) and its effect on the strain relaxation of Al0.25Ga0.75N/HT-AlN/GaN. The HT-AlN IL capped with Al0.25Ga0.75N transforms into AlGaN IL in which the Al composition increases with the HT-AlN IL thickness while the total Ga content keeps nearly constant. During the HT-AlN IL growth on GaN, the tensile stress is relieved through the formation of V trenches. The filling up of the V trenches by the subsequent Al0.25Ga0.75N growth is identified as the Ga source for the IL transformation, whose effect is very different from a direct growth of HT-AlGaN IL. The a-type dislocations generated during the advancement of V trenches and their filling up propagate into the Al0.25Ga0.75N overlayer. The a-type dislocation density increases dramatically with the IL thickness, which greatly enhances the strain relaxation of Al0.25Ga0.75N. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

MOCVD growth of InN using a GaN buffer

We have investigated MOCVD growth of InN oil sapphire with and without a GaN buffer between 490 and 520 degrees C. The buffer significantly improves the surface morphological uniformity and electrical properties of InN epilayers. Characterization of the as-grown epilayers with the buffer reveals that kinetics-limited islands are formed at lower temperatures, whereas islands with equilibrium shape are obtained at higher temperatures. Below 520 degrees C, increasing temperature improves structural quality but degrades electrical properties. Hall data from this study Suggest that V-N-related defects/impurities are the possible donor species and compensation varies with charged dislocation acceptors. We believe that reducing carrier concentration and dislocation density is effective to increase the Hall mobility of InN. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. 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.

Does an enhanced yellow luminescence imply a reduction of electron mobility in n-type GaN?

It is studied whether there is any regular relationship between the yellow luminescence band and electron mobility of n-type GaN. For a series of GaN samples grown with the same Si doping, it is found that the electron mobility decreases with an increase of relative intensity of yellow luminescence, accompanied by an increase of edge dislocation density. Further research indicates that it is acceptors introduced by edge dislocations which lead to the concomitant changes of yellow luminescence and electron mobility. Similar changes are induced by Si doping in the n-type GaN samples with relatively low edge dislocation density. However, the relationship between the yellow luminescence and electron mobility of n-type GaN is not a simple one. A light Si doping may simultaneously increase yellow luminescence and electron mobility when Si doping plays a dominant role in reducing the carrier scattering. This means that even the intensity of yellow luminescence is often used as an indicator of material quality for GaN, it does not have any monotonous correlation with the electron mobility of GaN. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Curvature Correction of FWHM in the X-Ray Rocking Curve of Bent Heteroepitaxial Films

A method for accurate determination of the curvature radius of semiconductor thin films is proposed. The curvature-induced broadening of the x-ray rocking curve (XRC) of a heteroepitaxially grown layer can be determined if the dependence of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of XRC is measured as a function of the width of incident x-ray beam. It is found that the curvature radii of two GaN films grown on a sapphire wafer are different when they are grown under similar MOCVD conditions but have different values of layer thickness. At the same time, the dislocation-induced broadening of XRC and thus the dislocation density of the epitaxial film can be well calculated after the curvature correction.

Stable multiplication gain in GaN p-i-n avalanche photodiodes with large device area

Visible-blind p-i-n avalanche photodiodes (APDs) were fabricated with high-quality GaN epilayers deposited on c-plane sapphire substrates by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition. Due to low dislocation density and a sophisticated device fabrication process, the dark current was as small as similar to 0.05 nA under reverse bias up to 20V for devices with a large diameter of 200 mu m, which was among the largest device area for GaN-based p-i-n APDs yet reported. When the reverse bias exceeded 38V the dark current increased sharply, exhibiting a bulk avalanche field-dominated stable breakdown without microplasma formation or sidewall breakdown. With ultraviolet illumination (360 nm) an avalanche multiplication gain of 57 was achieved.