The effects of substrate temperature on the structure and properties of ZnO films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

ZnO thin films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on glass substrates with growth temperature from room temperature (RT) to 500 degrees C. The effects of substrate temperature on the structural and optical properties of ZnO films have been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission spectra, and RT photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The results showed that crystalline and (0 0 2)-oriented ZnO films were obtained at all substrate temperatures. As the substrate temperature increased from RT to 500 degrees C, the ratio of grain size in height direction to that in the lateral direction gradually decreased. The same grain size in two directions was obtained at 200 degrees C, and the size was smallest in all samples, which may result in maximum E, and E-0 of the films. UV emission was observed only in the films grown at 200 degrees C, which is probably because the stoichiometry of ZnO films was improved at a suitable substrate temperature. It was suggested that the UV emission might be related to the stoichiometry in the ZnO film rather than the grain size of the thin film. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Well-Aligned Zn-Doped InN Nanorods Grown by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition and the Dopant Distribution

We report the synthesis and characterization of Zn-doped InN nanorods by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Electron microscopy images show that the InN nanorods are single-crystalline structures and vertically well-aligned. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses suggest that Zn ions are distributed nonhomogenously in InN nanorods. Simulations based on diffusion model show that the doping concentration along the radial direction of InN nanorod is bowl-like from the exterior to the interior, the doping concentration decreases, and Such dopant distribution result in a bimodal EDXS spectrum of Zn across the nanorod. The study of the mechanism of doping effect is useful for the design of InN-based nanometer devices. Also, high-quality Zn-doped InN nanorods will be very attractive as building blocks for nano-optoelectronic devices.'

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.

Comparison and combination of several stress relief methods for cubic boron nitride films deposited by ion beam assisted deposition

Cubic boron nitride (c-BN) films were prepared by ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) technique, and the stresses were primary estimated by measuring the frequency shifts in the infrared-absorption peaks of c-BN samples. To test the possible effects of other factors, dependencies of the c-BN transversal optical mode position on film thickness and c-BN content were investigated. Several methods for reducing the stress of c-BN films including annealing, high temperature deposition, two-stage process, and the addition of a small amount of Si were studied, in which the c-BN films with similar thickness and cubic phase content were used to evaluate the effects of the various stress relief methods. It was shown that all the methods can reduce the stress in c-BN films to various extents. Especially, the incorporation of a small amount of Si (2.3 at.%) can result in a remarkable stress relief from 8.4 to similar to 3.6 GPa whereas the c-BN content is nearly unaffected, although a slight degradation of the c-BN crystallinity is observed. The stress can be further reduced down below I GPa by combination of the addition of Si with the two-stage deposition process. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Raman scattering study on Ga1-xMnxAs prepared by Mn ions implantation, deposition and post-annealing

Raman scattering measurements have been performed in Ga1-xMnxAs crystals prepared by Mn ions implantation, deposition, and post-annealing. The Raman spectrum measured from the implanted surface of the sample shows some weak phonon modes in addition to GaAs-like phonon modes, where the GaAs-like LO and TO phonons are found to be shifted by approximately 4 and 2 cm(-1), respectively, in the lower frequency direction compared to those observed from the unimplanted surface of the sample. The weak vibrational modes observed are assigned to hausmannite Mn3O4 like. The coupled LO-phonon plasmon mode (CLOPM), and defects and As related vibrational modes caused by Mn ions implantation, deposition, and post-annealing are also observed. The compositional dependence of GaAs-like LO phonon frequency is developed for strained and unstrained conditions and then using the observed LOGaAs peak, the Mn composition is evaluated to be 0.034. Furthermore, by analyzing the intensity of CLOPM and unscreened LOGaAs phonon mode, the hole density is evaluated to be 1.84 x 10(18) cm(-3). (C) 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

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.

Properties of high k gate dielectric gadolinium oxide deposited on Si(100) by dual ion beam deposition (DIBD)

Gadolinium oxide thin films have been prepared on silicon (100) substrates with a low-energy dual ion-beam epitaxial technique. Substrate temperature was an important factor to affect the crystal structures and textures in an ion energy range of 100-500 eV. The films had a monoclinic Gd2O3 structure with preferred orientation ((4) over bar 02) at low substrate temperatures. When the substrate temperature was increased, the orientation turned to (202), and finally, the cubic structure appeared at the substrate temperature of 700 degreesC, which disagreed with the previous report because of the ion energy. The AES studies found that Gadolinium oxide shared Gd2O3 structures, although there were a lot of oxygen deficiencies in the films, and the XPS results confirmed this. AFM was also used to investigate the surface images of the samples. Finally, the electrical properties were presented. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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.