Growth of GaN layers on GaAs and GaP (111) and (001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

Films of GaN have been grown using a modified MBE technique in which the active nitrogen is supplied from an RF plasma source. Wurtzite films grown on (001) oriented GaAs substrates show highly defective, ordered polycrystalline growth with a columnar structure, the (0001) planes of the layers being parallel to the (001) planes of the GaAs substrate. Films grown using a coincident As flux, however, have a single crystal zinc-blende growth mode. They have better structural and optical properties. To improve the properties of the wurtzite films we have studied the growth of such films on (111) oriented GaAs and GaP substrates. The improved structural properties of such films, assessed using X-ray and TEM method, correlate with better low-temperature FL.

Defect Cluster-Induced X-Ray Diffuse Scattering in GaN Films Grown by MOCVD

High-resolution X-ray diffraction has been employed to investigate the diffuse scattering in a (0001) oriented GaN epitaxial film grown on sapphire substrate. The analysis reveals that defect clusters are present in GaN films and their concentration increases as the density of threading dislocations increases. Meanwhile, the mean radius of these defect clusters shows a reverse tendency. This result is explained by the effect of clusters preferentially forming around dislocations, which act as effective sinks for the segregation of point defects. The electric mobility is found to decrease as the cluster concentration increases.

MOCVD生长GaN力学性能研究

采用MOCVD技术在蓝宝石衬底（0001）面上生长了GaN外延膜，利用原子力显微镜AFM、扫描电镜SEM分析了薄膜表面形貌，利用纳米压痕仪和UMT试验机考察了GaN膜的硬度、临界载荷以及摩擦学性能等。结果表明，薄膜以二维模式均匀生长，表面平整，硬度达22．1MPa，弹性模量为299．5GPa，与衬底结合紧密，临界载荷达1．6N，与GCr15钢球对磨时摩擦系数仅为0．13，与Si3N4陶瓷球摩擦时膜很快就磨穿。

X-Band GaN Power HEMTs with Power Density of 2.23W/mm Grown on Sapphire by MOCVD

The growth,fabrication,and characterization of 0.2μm gate-length AlGaN/GaN HEMTs,with a high mobility GaN thin layer as a channel,grown on (0001) sapphire substrates by MOCVD,are described.The unintentionally doped 2.5μm thick GaN epilayers grown with the same conditions as the GaN channel have a room temperature electron mobility of 741cm2/(V·s) at an electron concentration of 1.52×1016 cm-3.The resistivity of the thick GaN buffer layer is greater than 108Ω·cm at room temperature.The 50mm HEMT wafers grown on sapphire substrates show an average sheet resistance of 440.9Ω/□ with uniformity better than 96%.Devices of 0.2μm×40μm gate periphery exhibit a maximum extrinsic transconductance of 250mS/mm and a current gain cutoff frequency of77GHz.The AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with 0.8mm gate width display a total output power of 1.78W (2.23W/mm) and a linear gain of 13.3dB at 8GHz.The power devices also show a saturated current density as high as 1.07A/mm at a gate bias of 0.5V.

MOCVD生长Mg掺杂GaN的退火研究

用MOCVD技术在50mm蓝宝石衬底(0001)面上生长了GaN∶Mg外延膜,对样品进行热退火处理并作了Hall、双晶X射线衍射(DCXRD)和室温光致发光谱(PL)测试.Hall测试结果表明,950℃退火后空穴浓度达到5×1017cm-3以上,电阻率降到2.5Ω·cm;(0002)面DCXRD测试发现样品退火前、后的半峰宽均约为4′;室温PL谱中发光峰位于2.85eV处,退火后峰的强度比退火前增强了8倍以上,表明样品中大量被H钝化的受主Mg原子在退火后被激活.

GaN基肖特基结构紫外探测器

在蓝宝石(0001)衬底上采用低压金属有机物化学气相沉积(MOCVD)方法生长GaN外延层结构,以此为材料制作了GaN基肖特基结构紫外探测器.测量了该紫外探测器的暗电流曲线、C-V特性曲线、光响应曲线和响应时间曲线.该紫外探测器在5V偏压时暗电流为0.42nA,在10V偏压时暗电流为38.5nA.在零偏压下,该紫外探测器在250nm～365nm的波长范围内有较高的响应度,峰值响应度在363nm波长处达到0.12A/W,在365nm波长左右有陡峭的截止边;当波长超过紫外探测器的截止波长(365nm左右),探测器的响应度减小了三个数量级以上.该紫外探测器的响应时间小于2μs.

GaN基MSM结构紫外光探测器

在蓝宝石(0001)衬底上采用低压金属有机物公学气相沉积(MOCVD)方法生长GaN外延层，以此为材料，制作了暗电流很小的金属半导体金属（MSM）结紫外光探测器，测量了该紫外光探测器的暗电流和360nm波长光照下的光电流曲线，光响应曲线和响应度随偏压变化的曲线，该紫外光线探测器在5V偏压时暗电流为1.03nA,在10V 偏压时暗电流为15.3nA，在15V偏压下该紫外光探测器在366nm 波长处的响应度达到0.166A/W,在365nm波长左右有陡峭的截止边.从0-15V,该紫外光探测器在360nm波长处的响应度随着偏压的增加而增大.详细地分析了该紫外光探测器的暗电流,光电流,响应度随偏压变化的关系.

GaN的声表面波特性研究

采用金属有机物化学气相外延方法在(0001)面蓝宝石上生长了高质量、高阻的未掺杂(0001)面GaN薄膜。为精确测量GaN薄膜材料的声表面波特性，在GaN薄膜表面上沉积了金属叉指换能器，叉指换能器采用等叉指结构，叉指的数目为40对，叉指间距为15μm。采用脉冲法测量了声表面波在自由表面和金属表面上的速度，并通过计算得到了机电耦合系数(κ^2)。所测量的声表面波速度（ν)为5667m／s，机电耦合系数(κ^2)为1．9％。

GaN横向外延中晶面倾斜的形成机制

采用双晶X射线衍射（DC－XRD）研究蓝宝石（0001）衬底上横向外延GaN层中晶面倾斜的形成原因。发现横向生长区的GaN在垂直掩模方向上朝SiNx掩模层弯曲。采用选择性腐蚀逐渐去掉SiNx掩模层，发现XRD中G N(002)ω扫描衍射峰两侧存在与晶面倾斜有关的衍射信息。该衍射信息起初为一个很宽的峰，随着选择性腐蚀的进行，会先分裂为两个峰，最后当SiNx掩模层全部腐蚀掉后，其中一个衍射峰会消失，而只剩下一个很窄的峰。作者证实造成横向外延GaN中晶面倾斜的原因有两个

Etching Behavior of GaN/GaAs(001) Epilayers Grown by MOVPE

Wet etching characteristics of cubic GAN (c-GaN) thin films grown on GaAs(001) by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) are investigated. The samples are etched in HCl, H_3PO_4, KOH aqueous solutions, and molten KOH at temperatures in the range of 90～300 ℃. It is found that different solution produces different etch figure on the surfaces of a sample. KOH-based solutions produce rectangular pits rather than square pits. The etch pits elongate in [1(1-bar)0] direction, indicating asymmetric etching behavior in the two orthogonal <110> directions. An explanation based on relative reactivity of the various crystallographic planes is employed to interpret qualitatively the asymmetric etching behavior. In addition, it is found that KOH aqueous solution would be more suitable than molten KOH and the two acids for the evaluation of stacking faults in c-GaN epilayers.

GSMBE GaN 膜的电子输运性质研究

用NH_3作氮源的GSMBE方法在晶向为(0001)的α-Al_2O_3衬底上生长非有意掺杂的单晶GaN外延膜，GaN膜呈N型导电，室温时的最高迁移率约为120cm~2/(V·s),相应的非有意掺杂电子浓度为9.1×10~(17)cm~(-3)。对一些GaN膜进行了变温Hall测试，通过电阻率、背景电子浓度以及Hall迁移随温度的变化研究了GaN外延膜的导电机理。结果表明，当温度较低时，以电子在施主中心之间的输运导电为主；当温度较高时，以导带中的自由电子导电为主。

Microstructural and compositional characteristics of GaN films grown on a ZnO-buffered Si(111) wafer

Polycrystalline GaN thin films have been deposited epitaxially on a ZnO-buffered (111)-oriented Si substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. The microstructural and compositional characteristics of the films were studied by analytical transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A SiO2 amorphous layer about 3.5 nm in thickness between the Si/ZnO interface has been identified by means of spatially resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy. Cross-sectional and plan-view TEM investigations reveal (GaN/ZnO/SiO2/Si) layers exhibiting definite a crystallographic relationship: [111](Si)//[111](ZnO)//[0001](GaN) along the epitaxy direction. GaN films are polycrystalline with nanoscale grains (similar to100 nm in size) grown along [0001] direction with about 20degrees between the (1 (1) over bar 00) planes of adjacent grains. A three-dimensional growth mode for the buffer layer and the film is proposed to explain the formation of the as-grown polycrystalline GaN films and the functionality of the buffer layer. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study of infrared luminescence from Er-implanted GaN films

In this study, we report the dependences of infrared luminescence properties of Er-implanted GaN thin films (GaN:Er) on the kinds of substrates used to grow GaN, the growth techniques of GaN, the implantation parameters and annealing procedures. The experimental results showed that the photoluminescence (PL) intensity at 1.54 mum was severely influenced by different kinds of substrates. The integrated PL peak intensity from GaN:Er /Al2O3 (00001) was three and five times stronger than that from GaN:Er /Si (111) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), respectively. The PL spectra observed from GaN:Er/Al2O3 (0001) grown by MOCVD and by MBE displayed a similar feature, but those samples grown by MOCVD exhibited a stronger 1.54 mum PL. It was also found that there was a strong correlation between the PL intensity with ion implantation parameters and annealing procedures. Ion implantation induced damage in host material could be only partly recovered by an appropriate annealing temperature procedure. The thermal quenching of PL from 15 to 300 K was also estimated. In comparison with the integrated PL intensity at 15 K, it is reduced by only about 30 % when going up to 300 K for GaN:Er/Al2O3 sample grown by MOCVD. Our results also show that the strongest PL intensity comes from GaN:Er grown on Al2O3 substrate by MOCVD. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of precipitates on GaN epilayer quality

GaN epilayers grown on pre-nitridated (0001) sapphire substrates by metallorganic vapor phase epitaxy were investigated by wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and energy dispersive S-ray spectroscopy. Precipitates were observed to mainly consist of O impurity whose strengths were weaker than surrounding matrix. The precipitates were larger in size and distributed more sparsely and inhomogeneously in < 11-20 > directions of the epilayers grown on substrates pre-nitridated for longer periods. The larger precipitates often joined to cracks in the TEM specimens. The crack formation seems to be attributed to the compressive stress concentration at edge angles of the larger precipitates. Yellow luminescence of the epilayers was imaged by cathodoluminescence. The distribution similarity between the cathodoluminescence and the precipitates suggested that the precipitates were responsible for the yellow luminescence band. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A, All rights reserved.

Electrical properties of GaN deposited on nitridated sapphire by molecular beam epitaxy using NH3 cracked on the growing surface

We have found that GaN epilayers grown by NH3-source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) contain hydrogen. Dependent on the hydrogen concentration, GaN on (0001) sapphire can be either under biaxially compressive strain or under biaxially tensile strain. Furthermore, we notice that background electrons in GaN increase with hydrogen incorporation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements of the N1s region indicate that hydrogen is bound to nitrogen. So, the microdefect Ga...H-N is an effective nitrogen vacancy in GaN, and it may be a donor partly answering for the background electrons. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.