Effects of V/III ratio on a-plane GaN epilayers with an InGaN interlayer

The effects of V/Ill growth flux ratio on a-plane GaN films grown on r-plane sapphire substrates with an InGaN interlayer are investigated. The surface morphology, crystalline quality, strain states, and density of basal stacking faults were found to depend heavily upon the V/III ratio. With decreasing V/III ratio, the surface morphology and crystal quality first improved and then deteriorated, and the density of the basal-plane stacking faults also first decreased and then increased. The optimal V/III ratio growth condition for the best surface morphology and crystalline quality and the smallest basal-plane stacking fault density of a-GaN films are found. We also found that the formation of basal-plane stacking faults is an effective way to release strain.     

Preparation of AlN film grown on sputter-deposited and annealed AlN buffer layer via HVPE

AlN films grown on sputter-deposited and annealed AlN buffer layer by high temperature hydride vapor phase epitaxy(HVPE)have been fabricated and structurally characterized.The crystalline quality and surface morphology of as-grown AlN films with various V/III ratios were studied and compared.The XRD results showed that the crystalline quality of the AlN film could be optimized when the growth V/III ratio was 150.At the same time,the full width at half-maximum(FWHM)values of(0002)-and(10ˉ12)-plane were 64 arcsec and 648 arcsec,respectively.As revealed by AFM,the AlN films grown with higher V/III ratios of 150 and 300 exhibited apparent hillock-like surface structure due to the low density of screw threading dislocation(TD).The defects microstructure and strain field around the HVPE-AlN/sputtered-AlN/sapphire interfaces have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy(TEM)technique combined with geometric phase analysis(GPA).It was found that the screw TDs within AlN films intend to turn into loops or half-loops after originating from the AlN/sapphire interface,while the edge ones would bend first and then reacted with others within a region of 400 nm above the interface.Consequently,part of the edge TDs propagated to the surface vertically.The GPA analysis indicated that the voids extending from sapphire to HVPE-AlN layer were beneficial to relax the interfacial strain of the best quality AlN film grown with a V/III ratio of 150.     

High Quality A1N with a Thin Interlayer Grown on a Sapphire Substrate by Plasma-Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy

We report an AIN epi-layer grown on sapphire by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy with a thin interlayer structure. The effects of growth mode on threading dislocations （TDs） and surface morphology are studied. Then an interlayer structure grown under a V/Ⅲ ratio of 1 is adopted to improve the AIN crystalline quality. By optimizing the thickness of the interlayer, the TD density and surface roughness can be reduced simultaneously.     

High Quality AlN with a Thin Interlayer Grown on a Sapphire Substrate by Plasma-Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy

We report an AlN epi-layer grown on sapphire by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy with a thin interlayer structure. The effects of growth mode on threading dislocations (TDs) and surface morphology are studied. Then an interlayer structure grown under a V/Ⅲ ratio of 1 is adopted to improve the AlN crystalline quality. By optimizing the thickness of the interlayer, the TD density and surface roughness can be reduced simultaneously.     

Effect of the thickness of InGaN interlayer on a-plane GaN epilayer

In this paper,we use the a-plane InGaN interlayer to improve the property of a-plane GaN.Based on the a-InGaN interlayer,a template exhibits that a regular,porous structure,which acts as a compliant effect,can be obtained to release the strain caused by the lattice and thermal mismatch between a-GaN and r-sapphire.We find that the thickness of InGaN has a great influence on the growth of a-GaN.The surface morphology and crystalline quality both are first improved and then deteriorated with increasing the thickness of the InGaN interlayer.When the InGaN thickness exceeds a critical point,the a-GaN epilayer peels off in the process of cooling down to room temperature.This is an attractive way of lifting off a-GaN films from the sapphire substrate.     

Improvement of A1N Film Quality by Controlling the Coalescence of Nucleation Islands in Plasma-Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy

The influence of nucleation coalescence on the crystalline quality of A1N films grown on sapphire by plasma- assisted molecular beam epitaxy is investigated. The coalescence speed is controlled by the V/Ⅲ ratio chosen for the growth after nucleation. A slightly Al-rich condition, corresponding to slow coalescence, can significantly reduce the density of edge threading dislocation （TD）, which is found to be dominant in AIN epilayers. The cross-sectional TEM image of the AIN epilayer grown under this condition clearly reveals an automatically formed boundary where an abrupt decrease of edge TD density occurs.     

Effect of CO2 Addition on Preparation of Diamond Films by Direct-Current Hot-Cathode Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition Method

Diamond films are deposited on Mo substrates by dc hot-cathode plasma chemical vapor deposition method using a CH4-H2-CO2 gas mixture. Adjusting the flow of CO2, we study the relevant influence on surface morphology, grain orientation and crystalline quality of films with scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, respectively. The results show that grain orientation of the films has a transition with the increasing CO2 addition, from （100） orientation to （110） orientation and then （111） orientation. The crystalline quality is improved but the growth rate is decreased by raising the flow of CO2. The experimental results are also discussed briefly.     

Effects of Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio on species diffusion anisotropy inthe MOCVD growth of non-polar a-plane GaN films

Non-polar a-plane (110) GaN films have been grown on r-plane (102) sapphire substrates by metal organic chemical vapour deposition. The influences of Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio on the species diffusion anisotropy of a-plane GaN films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, cathodoluminescence and high-resolution x-ray diffraction measurements. The anisotropy of a-plane GaN films may result from the different migration length of adatoms along two in-plane directions. Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio has an effect on the growth rates of different facets and crystal quality. The stripe feature morphology was obviously observed in the film with a high V/III ratio because of the slow growth rate along the [100] direction. When the Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio increased from 1000 to 6000, the in-plane crystal quality anisotropy was decreased due to the weakened predominance in migration length of gallium adatoms.     

Effect of Carbonized Conditions on Residual Strain and Crystallinity Quality of Heteroepitaxial Growth 3C-SiC Films

Heteroepitaxial growth of SiC on n-Si（111） substrates is performed by a low pressure chemicaJ vapor deposition process. The effects of different carbonized temperature and carbonized time on the crystalline quality and the residual strain of 3C-SiC films are discussed. The results show that the residual strain is obviously reduced and the crystalline quality is greatly improved at the best carbonized temperature of 1000℃ and the carbonized time of 5 min. Under these optimized carbonization conditions, thick epitaxial films of about 15 μm with good crystalline quality and low residual strain can be obtained.     

Growth of a-Plane GaN Films on r-Plane Sapphire Substrates by Metalorganic Chemical Vapour Deposition

Nonpolar a-plane CaN films were grown on r-plane sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) under various conditions. The surface morphologies of epitaxial films are studied by atomic force microscopy. The pit density and size both decrease with the increasing growth temperature, decreasing growth pressure or V/Ⅲ ratio, while the roughness of the surface increases. Formation mechanisms of the pits in the films are discussed.     

Optimized growth of compensated ferrimagnetic insulator Gd_3Fe_5O_(12) with a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

Compensated ferrimagnetic insulators are particularly interesting for enabling functional spintronic,optical,and microwave devices.Among many different garnets,Gd_3 Fe_5 O_(12)(GdIG) is a representative compensated ferrimagnetic insulator.In this paper,we will study the evolution of the surface morphology,the magnetic properties,and the magnetization compensation through changing the following parameters:the annealing temperature,the growth temperature,the annealing duration,and the choice of different single crystalline garnet substrates.Our objective is to find the optimized growth condition of the GdIG films,for the purpose of achieving a strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy(PMA) and a flat surface,together with a small effective damping parameter.Through our experiments,we have found that the surface roughness approaching 0.15 nm can be obtained by choosing the growth temperature around 700℃,together with an enhanced PMA.We have also found the modulation of magnetic anisotropy by choosing different single crystalline garnet substrates which change the tensile strain to the compressive strain.A measure of the effective magnetic damping parameter(α_(eff)=0.04 ± 0.01) through a spin pumping experiment in a GdIG/Pt bilayer is also made.Through optimizing the growth dynamics of GdIG films,our results could be useful for synthesizing garnet films with a PMA,which could be beneficial for the future development of ferrimagnetic spintronics.     

Electrical Response of Flexible Vanadyl-Phthalocyanine Thin-Film Transistors under Bending Conditions

Flexible vanadyl-phthalocyanine （VOPc） thin-film transistors are fabricated by the weak epitaxy growth （WEG） method. The devices show a mobility of 0.5 cm2/Vs, an on/off ratio of 105 and a low leakage current of 10-9 A. The performances exhibit strong dependence on bending conditions and reversible change can be found when the bending strain is less than 1.5%. This results from the change of the trap density calculated by subthreshold slopes. The results indicate that VOPc films fabricated by the WEG method have good durability to flexing and possess great potential in flexible electronics.     

High-Quality InSb Grown on Semi-Insulting GaAs Substrates by Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition for Hall Sensor Application

High-quality InSb epilayers are grown on semi-insulting GaAs substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using an indium pre-deposition technique. The influence of Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio and indium pre-deposition time on the surface morphology, crystalline quality and electrical properties of the InSb epilayer is systematically investigated using Nomarski microscopy, atomic force microscopy, high-resolution x-ray diffraction, Hall measurement and contactless sheet resistance measurement. It is found that a 2-μm-thick InSb epilayer grown at 450℃ with a Ⅴ/Ⅲ ratio of 5 and an indium pre-deposition time of 2.5s exhibits the optimum material quality, with a root-meansquare surface roughness of only 1.2 nm, an XRD rocking curve with full width at half maximum of 358 arcsec and a room-temperature electron mobility of 4.6 × 10~4 cm~2/V·s. These values are comparable with those grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Hall sensors are fabricated utilizing a 600-nm-thick InSb epilayer. The output Hall voltages of these sensors exceed 10 mV with the input voltage of 1 V at 9.3 mT and the electron mobility of 3.2 × 10~4 cm~2/V·s is determined, which indicates a strong potential for Hall applications.     

Effect of the O2/Ar Pressure Ratio on the Microstructure and Surface Morphology of Epi-MgO/IBAD-MgO Templates for GdBa2Cu3O7？δ Coated Conductors

High-quality epi-MgO buffer layers under different O2/Ar pressure ratios are fabricated by rf magnetron sputtering on textured IBAD-MgO templates. Under the total deposition pressure remaining constant （14 Pa）, the effect of changing the ratio of O2/Ar pressure from 1：4 to 3：2 on the microstructure and surface morphology of epi-MgO films is studied. The microstructure and morphology of epi-MgO are fully characterized by x-ray diffraction, atom force microscope and scanning electron microscope. The best texture quality of epi-MgO with an out-plane Δω value of 1.8° and an in-plane Δ？ value of 5.22° are obtained under the ratio of O2/Ar pressure 3：2. Further, the surface morphology indicates that the surface of epi-MgO is smooth with rms surface roughness about 4.7 nm at O2/Ar pressure ratio 3：2. After that, GdBa2Cu3O7？δ （GBCO） layers are deposited on the CeO2 cap layer buffered epi-MgO/IBAD-MgO templates to assess the efficiency of such a buffer layer stack. The critical current density of GBCO films （thickness of 200 nm） is higher than 3 MA/cm2, indicating that epi-MgO/IBAD-MgO is promising for depositing superconducting layers with a higher critical current density.     

Effect of substrate temperature on microstructure and optical properties of single-phased Ag20 film deposited by using radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering method

Using a radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering technique, a series of the single-phased Ag20 films are deposited in a mixture of oxygen and argon gas with a flow ratio of 2：3 by changing substrate temperature （Ts）. Effects of the Ts on the microstructure and optical properties of the films are investigated by using X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy and spectrophotometry. The single-phased Ag20 films deposited at values of Ts below 200℃ are （111） preferentially oriented, which may be due to the smallest free energy of the （111） crystalline face. The film crystallization becomes poor as the value of Ts increases from 100℃ to 225℃. In particular, the Ag20 film deposited at Ts=225℃ loses the （111） preferential orientation. Correspondingly, the film surface morphology obviously evolves from a uniform and compact surface structure to a loose and gullied surface structure. With the increase of Ts value, the transmissivity and the reflectivity of the films in the transparent region are gradually reduced, while the absorptivity gradually increases, which may be attributed to an evolution of the crystalline structure and the surface morphology of the films.     

Effect of Al Doping on Properties of SiC Films

Undoped and Al-doped 3C-SiC films are deposited on Si（100） substrates by low-pressure chemical vapour deposition. Effects of aluminium incorporation on crystallinity, strain stress, surface morphology and growth rate of SiC films have been investigated. The x-ray diffraction patterns and rocking curves indicate that the crystallinity is improved with aluminium doping. Raman scatting patterns also demonstrate that the strain stress in SiC films is released due to the incorporation of Al ions and the increase of film thickness. Furthermore, due to the catalysis of surface reaction which is induced by trimethylaluminium, the growth rate is increased greatly and the growth process varies from three-dimensional island-growth mode to step-flow growth mode.     

Nucleation of GaSb on GaAs （001） by low pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

The initial growth stage of GaSb on GaAs(001) by low pressure metal–organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD)is investigated. The dependence of the nucleation on growth temperature, growth pressure, and vapor V/III ratio is studied by means of atomic force microscopy. The nucleation characteristics include the island density, size, and size uniformity distribution. The nucleation mechanism is discussed by the effects of growth temperature, growth pressure, and vapor V/III ratio on the density, size, and size uniformity of GaSb islands. With the growth temperature increasing from 500℃ to610℃ and the growth pressure increasing from 50 mbar to 1000 mbar(1 mbar = 105Pa), the island density first increases and then decreases; with the V/III ratio increasing from 0.5 to 3, the trend is contrary.     

Growth of high quality InSb thin films on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy method with AlInSb/GaSb as compound buffer layers

A series of In Sb thin films were grown on Ga As substrates by molecular beam epitaxy(MBE).Ga Sb/Al In Sb is used as a compound buffer layer to release the strain caused by the lattice mismatch between the substrate and the epitaxial layer,so as to reduce the system defects.At the same time,the influence of different interface structures of Al In Sb on the surface morphology of buffer layer is explored.The propagation mechanism of defects with the growth of buffer layer is compared and analyzed.The relationship between the quality of In Sb thin films and the structure of buffer layer is summarized.Finally,the growth of high quality In Sb thin films is realized.     

CuInSe2 Films Prepared by a Plasma-Assisted Selenization Process in Different Working Pressures

The effects of working pressure on the composition, structure and surface morphology properties of CuInSe2 （CIS） films selenized with a plasma-assisted selenization process is investigated. Higher selenium content, better crystalline quality and much more regular surface particles compared to the others are found in the CIS film with 40 Pa working pressure. A Cu（In,Ga）Se2 device fabricated with the optimized plasma-assisted selenization process is demonstrated to be better than our previous result. After discussion, the reason for these phenomena is attributed to the compromise of electron temperature and plasma density.     

微波等离子体化学气相沉积合成掺氮金刚石薄膜的缺陷和结构特征及其生长行为

Diamond film was deposited in CH₄ and H₂ gas mixture with a small amount of N₂ by microwave plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). Scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy were applied to characterize the film. The results showed that the growth of grains are different the central region and the edge. In the central region, diamond grains nucleated with a density as high as 4.8×10⁸ cm^-2 and were preferential in 〈001〉 orientation. The inner grains formed an area without stacking faults,which was surrounded by a rim with a high density of stacking faults. A growth model was suggested to interpret the morphological feature and the behavior of preferential growth. At the edge, the grains were identified to be 6H polytypes of diamond and a new twin relationship of grains was found. Besides, the effect of the N dopant on the growth behavior of the diamond film deposited by MPCVD was discussed in connection with the growth rate of the film. 关键词： 金刚石 结构表征 透射电子显微镜 多型金刚石