SiC epitaxial layer growth in a novel multi-wafer vapor-phase epitaxial (VPE) reactor

Experimental results are presented for SiC epitaxial layer growths employing a unique planetary SiC-VPE reactor. The high-throughput, multi-wafer (7×2″) reactor, was designed for atmospheric and reduced pressure operation at temperatures up to and exceeding 1600°C. Specular epitaxial layers have been grown in the reactor at growth rates ranging from 3–5 μm/h. The thickest layer grown to date is 42 μm thick. The layers exhibit minimum unintentional n-type doping of 1×10¹⁵ cm⁻³, and room temperature mobilities of 1000 cm²/V s. Intentional n-type doping from 5×10¹⁵ cm⁻³ to >1×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ has been achieved. Intrawafer layer thickness and doping uniformities (standard deviation/mean at 1×10¹⁶ cm⁻³) are typically 4 and 7%, respectively, on 35 mm diameter substrates. Moderately doped, 4×10¹⁷ cm⁻³, layers, exhibit 3% doping uniformity. Recently, 3% thickness and 10% doping uniformity (at 1×10¹⁶ cm⁻³) has been demonstrated on 50 mm substrates. Within a run, wafer-to-wafer thickness deviation averages 9%. Doping variation, initially ranging as much as a factor of two from the highest to the lowest doped wafer, has been reduced to 13% at 1×10¹⁶ cm⁻³, by reducing susceptor temperature nonuniformity and eliminating exposed susceptor graphite. Ongoing developments intended to further improve layer uniformity and run-to-run reproducibility, are also presented.     

Defect reduction in GaN epilayers and HFET structures grown on (0 0 0 1)sapphire by ammonia MBE

The quality of GaN epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on substrates such as sapphire and silicon carbide has improved considerably over the past few years and in fact now produces AlGaN/GaN HEMT devices with characteristics among the best reported for any growth technique. However, only recently has the bulk defect density of MBE grown GaN achieved levels comparable to that obtained by MOVPE and with a comparable level of electrical performance. In this paper, we report the ammonia-MBE growth of GaN epilayers and HFET structures on (0 0 0 1)sapphire. The effect of growth temperature on the defect density of single GaN layers and the effect of an insulating carbon doped layer on the defect density of an overgrown channel layer in the HFET structures is reported. The quality of the epilayers has been studied using Hall effect and the defect density using TEM, SEM and wet etching. The growth of an insulating carbon-doped buffer layer followed by an undoped GaN channel layer results in a defect density in the channel layer of 2×10⁸ cm⁻². Mobilities close to 490 cm²/Vs at a carrier density of 8×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ for a 0.4 μm thick channel layer has been observed. Growth temperature is one of the most critical parameters for achieving this low defect density both in the bulk layers and the FET structures. Photo-chemical wet etching has been used to reveal the defect structure in these layers.     

Growth and characterization of epitaxial layers on aluminum nitride substrates prepared from bulk, single crystals

A comparative study of epitaxy of AlN, GaN and their alloys, grown on c-axis and off-axis substrates of single-crystal aluminum nitride has been carried out. Growth on off-axis (>30°) substrates appears to result in rough surfaces and the absence of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). However, smooth morphologies were demonstrated for both homoepitaxial and heteroepitaxial growth on on-axis (<2°) substrates. On one of these oriented substrates a 2DEG, with a mobility of 1000 cm²/V s and a sheet density of 8.5×10¹² cm⁻² at room temperature, was also demonstrated for the first time.     

Material optimisation for AlGaN/GaN HFET applications

An optimisation of some growth parameters for the epitaxy of AlGaN–GaN based heterostructure field effect transistors (HFET) at low pressure in a new 3 _* 2″ MOVPE reactor is presented. Some possible processes for the growth of semi-insulating buffers have been identified and are described. TEM analysis shows that the insulating character is not due to a high density of dislocations, whereas SIMS analysis shows that classical impurity (Si, O and C) concentrations are in the same range as in conductive undoped layers. Further studies are needed to identify the traps responsible for the compensation of the GaN layers. The properties of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) located at the AlGaN–GaN interface can be tuned by modifying the characteristics of the AlGaN layer and of the insulating buffer. The best mobility (1500 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ for n6×10¹² cm⁻²) is obtained when using a thick buffer layer, whereas the sheet carrier density is found to increase with the Al content in the undoped supply layer and reaches 1.1×10¹³ cm⁻² for a composition of 24%.     

Reduction of threading dislocations in migration enhanced epitaxy grown GaN with N-polarity by use of AlN multiple interlayer

High quality GaN layer was obtained by insertion of high temperature grown AlN multiple intermediate layers with migration enhanced epitaxy method by the RF-plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy on (0 0 01) sapphire substrates. The propagating behaviors of dislocations were studied, using a transmission electron microscope. The results show that the edge dislocations were filtered at the AlN/GaN interfaces. The bending propagation of threading dislocations in GaN above AlN interlayers was confirmed. Thereby, further reduction of dislocations was achieved. Dislocation density being reduced, the drastic increase of electron mobility to 668 cm²/V s was obtained at the carrier density of 9.5×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ in Si doped GaN layer.     

Multiple-step annealing for 50% enhanced p-conductivity of GaN

In this article, multiple-step rapid thermal annealing (RTA) processes for the activation of Mg doped GaN are compared with conventional single-step RTA processes. The investigated multiple-step processes consist of a low temperature annealing step at temperatures between 350°C and 700°C with dwell times up to 5 min and a short time high temperature step. With optimized process parameters, and multiple-step processes, we achieved p-type free carrier concentrations up to 1–2×10¹⁸ cm⁻³. The best achieved conductivity, so far, lies at 1.2 Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹. This is a 50% improvement compared to conventional single-step process at 800°C, 10 min.     

Efficiency optimization of p-type doping in GaN:Mg layers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

The Mg-doping efficiency in GaN layers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy has been studied as a function of the growth temperature, the growth rate, and the Mg beam flux. The Mg cell temperature window for efficient p-type doping is rather narrow, being limited by the GaN n-type background doping density (lower limit) and by the Mg surface coverage that, beyond a threshold, induces a layer polarity inversion (N-polarity), leading to a reduction of the Mg incorporation (upper limit). An increase of the growth temperature avoids this polarity inversion, but the Mg flux must be increased to compensate the strong desorption rate. Thus, a trade-off between both temperatures has to be reached. A reduction of the growth rate has a strong effect on the p-type doping level, yielding up to 7×10¹⁷ holes/cm³ for a total Mg concentration of 1×10¹⁹ cm⁻³. This high Mg concentration does not seem to generate Mg-related defects or deep traps.     

Polarization induced 2D hole gas in GaN/AlGaN heterostructures

The generation of high density 2D hole gases is crucial for further progress in the electronic and optoelectronic nitride devices. In this paper, we present systematic theoretical studies of Mg-doped GaN/AlGaN gated heterostructures and superlattices. Our calculations are based on a self-consistent solution of the multiband k.p Schrödinger and Poisson equation and reveal that the hole 2D sheet density is mainly determined by the polarization induced interface charges. For an aluminium concentration of 30%, the induced hole density in the heterostructure can reach values up to 1.5×10¹³ cm⁻². In the GaN/AlGaN superlattices, the hole sheet density increases with the superlattice period and saturates for a period of 40 nm at a value of 1.5×10¹³ cm⁻².     

Growth of nitrogen-doped p-type ZnO films by spray pyrolysis and their electrical and optical properties

Nitrogen-doped ZnO films were deposited on silicon (1 0 0) substrate using zinc acetate and ammonium acetate aqueous solution as precursors by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. Successful p-type doping can be realized at optimized substrate temperature. The p-type ZnO films show excellent electrical properties such as hole concentration of 10¹⁸ cm⁻³, hole mobility of 10² cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and resistivity of 10⁻² Ω cm. In the photoluminescence measurement, a strong near-band-edge emission was observed, while the deep-level emission was almost undetectable in both undoped and N-doped ZnO films. The growth and doping mechanism of N-doped ZnO films were discussed.     

Growth and spectral properties of Nd:LaVO4 crystal

This paper reports the growth and spectral properties of 3.5 at% Nd³⁺:LaVO₄ crystal with diameter of 20×15 mm² which has been grown by the Czochralski method. The spectral parameters were calculated based on Judd–Ofelt theory. The intensity parameters Ω_λ are: Ω₂=2.102×10⁻²⁰ cm², Ω₄=3.871×10⁻²⁰ cm², Ω₆=3.235×10⁻²⁰ cm². The radiative lifetime τ_r is 209 μs and calculated fluorescence branch ratios are: β₁(0.88μm)=45.2, β₂(1.06μm)=46.7, β₃(1.34μm)=8.1. The measured fluorescence lifetime τ_f is 137 μm and the quantum efficiency η is 65.6%. The absorption band at 808 nm wavelength has an FWHM of 20 nm. The absorption and emission cross sections are 3×10⁻²⁰ and 6.13×10⁻²⁰ cm², respectively.     

Influence of cooling rate on the liquid-phase epitaxial growth of Zn3P2

We report the liquid-phase epitaxial growth of Zn₃P₂ on InP (1 0 0) substrates by conventional horizontal sliding boat system using 100% In solvent. Different cooling rates of 0.2–1.0 °C/min have been adopted and the influence of supercooling on the properties of the grown epilayers is analyzed. The crystal structure and quality of the grown epilayers have been studied by X-ray diffraction and high-resolution X-ray rocking measurements, which revealed a good lattice matching between the epilayers and the substrate. The supercooling-induced morphologies and composition of the epilayers were studied by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The growth rate has been calculated and found that there exists a linear dependence between the growth rate and the cooling rate. Hall measurements showed that the grown layers are unintentionally doped p-type with a carrier mobility as high as 450 cm²/V s and a carrier concentration of 2.81×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ for the layers grown from 6 °C supercooled melt from the cooling rate of 0.4 °C/min.     

Growth and spectral properties of Nd-doped Sr3Y(BO3)3 crystal

A new crystal of Nd³⁺:Sr₃Y(BO₃)₃ with dimension up to 25×35 mm² was grown by Czochralski method. Absorption and emission spectra of Nd³⁺: Sr₃Y(BO₃)₃ were investigated . The absorption band at 807 nm has a FWHM of 18 nm. The absorption and emission cross sections are 2.17×10⁻²⁰ cm² at 807 nm and 1.88×10⁻¹⁹ cm² at 1060 nm, respectively. The luminescence lifetime τ_f is 73 μs at room temperature     

Investigations on the effect of InSb and InAsSb step-graded buffer layers in InAs0.5Sb0.5 epilayers grown on GaAs (0 0 1)

We report the structural and electrical properties of InAsSb epilayers grown on GaAs (0 0 1) substrates with mid-alloy composition of 0.5. InSb buffer layer and InAs_xSb_1−x step-graded (SG) buffer layer have been used to relax lattice mismatch between the epilayer and substrate. A decrease in the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the epilayer is observed with increasing the thickness of the InSb buffer layer. The surface morphology of the epilayer is found to change from 3D island growth to 2D growth and the electron mobility of the sample is increased from 5.2×10³ to 1.1×10⁴ cm²/V s by increasing the thickness of the SG layers. These results suggest that high crystalline quality and electron mobility of the InAs_0.5Sb_0.5 alloy can be achieved by the growth of thick SG InAsSb buffer layer accompanied with a thick InSb buffer layer. We have confirmed the improvement in the structural and electrical properties of the InAs_0.5Sb_0.5 epilayer by quantitative analysis of the epilayer having a 2.09 μm thick InSb buffer layer and 0.6 μm thickness of each SG layers.     

Room-temperature luminescence study on the effect of Mg activation annealing on p-GaN layers grown by MOCVD

An Mg-doped p-GaN layer was grown by the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition method. The dissociation extent of hydrogen-passivated Mg acceptors in the p-GaN layer through Mg activation annealing was estimated by using room-temperature cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy. The CL measurement revealed that the CL spectra intensities tend to increase with increasing the activation annealing temperature. The sample annealed at 925 °C showed the most intense emission and the narrowest width among the emission peaks. Consequently, it was the most excellent dissociation extent of Mg–H complexes caused by the Mg activation annealing. The hole concentration under this optimum condition was 1.3×10¹⁷ cm⁻³ at room temperature. The photoluminescence (PL) measurement showed a 2.8 eV band having characteristically a broad peak in heavily Mg-doped GaN at room temperature. By analyzing the PL results, we learned that this band was associated with the deep donor–acceptor pair (DAP) emission rather than with the emission caused by the transition from the conduction band to deep acceptor level. The four emission peaks in the resolved 2.8 eV band were emitted by transiting from deep donor levels of 0.14, 0.26, 0.40, and 0.62 eV below the conduction band to the shallow Mg acceptor level of 0.22 eV above the valence band.     

Metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy of III/V phosphides with tertiarybutylphosphine and tertiarybutylarsine

Indium phosphide, gallium arsenide phosphide, and aluminum indium phosphide have been deposited by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy using tertiarybutylphosphine and tertiarybutylarsine. The effects of growth temperature and V/III ratio on the amount of silicon, sulfur, carbon, and oxygen in InP have been determined. Minimum incorporation was observed at 565 °C and a V/III ratio of 32. In this case, the material contained a background carrier concentration of 2.7×10¹⁴ cm⁻³, and the Hall mobilities were 4970 and 135,000 cm²/V s at 300 and 77 K. The oxygen contamination in AlInP was found to be only 9.0×10¹⁵ cm⁻³ for deposition at 650 °C and a V/III ratio of 35. The relative distribution of arsenic to phosphorus in GaAs_yP_1−y was determined at temperatures between 525 and 575 °C. The distribution coefficient [(N_As/N_P)_film/(P_TBAs/P_TBP)_gas] ranged from 25.4 to 8.4, and exhibited an Arrhenius relationship with an apparent activation energy of 1.2 eV.     

Effects of ion implantation on intermediate range order: IR spectra of silica

The reflectance spectra of ion implanted SiO₂ glasses has been measured from 5000 cm⁻¹ to 400 cm⁻¹. The silica was implanted with Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu and Bi to nominal doses ranging from 1×10¹⁵ ions/cm² to 1.2×10¹⁷ ions/cm² at an energy of 160 keV and currents of approximately 2.6 μA/cm². Changes in the intensity of the 1232 cm⁻¹ and 1015 cm⁻¹ vibrational modes are attributed to changes in the intermediate range order (IRO) and to changes in the concentration of non-bridging oxygen (NBO) defects in the implanted layer. These changes are ion and dose dependent. The differing effects on IRO and NBO are attributed to the chemical interaction of the implanted ions with the substrate.     

High-temperature growth of very high germanium content SiGe virtual substrates

We have first of all studied (in reduced pressure–chemical vapour deposition) the high-temperature growth kinetics of SiGe in the 0–100% Ge concentration range. We have then grown very high Ge content (55–100%) SiGe virtual substrates at 850 °C. We have focused on the impact of the final Ge concentration on the SiGe virtual substrates’ structural properties. Polished Si_0.5Ge_0.5 virtual substrates were used as templates for the growth of the high Ge concentration part of such stacks, in order to minimize the severe surface roughening occurring when ramping up the Ge concentration. The macroscopic degree of strain relaxation increases from 99% up to values close to 104% as the Ge concentration of our SiGe virtual substrates increases from 50% up to 100% (discrepancies in-between the thermal expansion coefficients of Si and SiGe). The surface root mean square roughness increases when the Ge concentration increases, reaching values close to 20 nm for 100% of Ge. Finally, the field (the pile-up) threading dislocations density (TDD) decreases as the Ge concentration increases, from 4×10⁵ cm⁻² (1–2×10⁵ cm⁻²) for [Ge]=50% down to slightly more than 1×10⁵ cm⁻² (a few 10⁴ cm⁻²) for [Ge]=88%. For [Ge]=100%, the field TDD is of the order of 3×10⁶ cm⁻², however.     

Heavily carbon-doped p-type (In)GaAs grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy using diiodomethane

Heavily carbon-doped p-type In_xGa_1−xAs (0≤x<0.49) was successfully grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy using diiodomethane (CH₂I₂), triethylindium (TEIn), triethylgallium (TEGa) and AsH₃. Hole concentrations as high as 2.1×10²⁰ cm⁻³ were achieved in GaAs at an electrical activation efficiency of 100%. For In_xGa_1−xAs, both the hole and the atomic carbon concentrations gradually decreased as the InAs mole fraction, x, increased from 0.41 to 0.49. Hole concentrations of 5.1×10¹⁸ and 1.5×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ for x = 0.49 and x = 0.41, respectively, were obtained by a preliminary experiment. After post-growth annealing (500°C, 5 min under As₄ pressure), the hole concentration increased to 6.2×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ for x = 0.49, probably due to the activation of hydrogen-passivated carbon accepters.     

Magnesium-doped InGaAs using (C2H5C5H4)2Mg: application to InP-based HBTs

Heavily magnesium-doped p-type-InGaAs layers on InP(100) substrates were successfully grown, for the first time, by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using bis-ethylcyclopentadienyl-magnesium, (C₂H₅C₅H₄)₂Mg (EtCp₂Mg), as organometallic precursor for the Mg. It was experimentally verified that the room-temperature hole concentration of Mg into InGaAs increased with increase of the V/III ratio and decrease of the growth temperature. A maximum hole concentration of over 4 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³ was obtained. The diffusion coefficient of Mg in InGaAs was experimentally derived to be 10⁻¹² cm²/s at 800°C, which was comparable to that of Be. Finally, InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with Mg-doped bases were fabricated successfully. Measured maximum current gain was about 320 with a 90 nm thick base and a sheet resistance of the base layer of 1.28 kΩ/sq.     

Investigation of preparation and properties of epitaxial growth GaN film on Si(1 1 1) substrate

In this paper, a single crystalline GaN grown on Si(1 1 1) is reported using a GaN buffer layer by a simple vacuum reactive evaporation method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence measurement (PL), and Hall measurement results indicate that the single crystalline wurtzite GaN was successfully grown on the Si(1 1 1) substrate. The surface of the GaN films is flat and crack-free. A pronounced GaN(0 0 0 2) peak appears in the XRD pattern. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the double-crystal X-ray rocking curve (DCXRC) for (0 0 0 2) diffraction from the GaN epilayer is 30 arcmin. The PL spectrum shows that the GaN epilayer emits light at the wavelength of 365 nm with an FWHM of 8 nm (74.6 meV). Unintentionally doped films were n-type with a carrier concentration of 1.76×10¹⁸/cm³ and an electron mobility of 142 cm³/V s. The growth technique described was simple but very powerful for growing single crystalline GaN films on Si substrate.