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

The effects of V/Ⅲgrowth 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/Ⅲratio.With decreasing V/Ⅲratio,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/Ⅲratio growth condition for the best surface morphology and crystalline quality and the smallest basalplane 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.     

The influence of pressure on the growth of a-plane GaN on r-plane sapphire substrates by MOCVD

Nonpolar a-plane (110) GaN films have been grown on r-plane (102) sapphire by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) under different growth pressures. The as-grown films are investigated by optical microscopy, high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and Raman scattering. As growth pressure rises from 100 mbar to 400 mbar, the surface gets rougher, and the in-plane XRD full width at half maximum (FWHM) along the c-axis [0001] increases while that along the m-axis [100] decreases. Meanwhile, res...     

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.     

Effect of Ⅲ/Ⅴ Ratio of HT-AIN Buffer Layer on Polarity Selection and Electrical Quality of GaN Films Grown by Radio Frequency Molecular Beam Epitaxy

We investigate the effect of A/N ratio of the high temperature （HT） AIN buffer layer on polarity selection and electrical quality of GaN films grown by radio frequency molecular beam epitaxy. The results show that low Al/N ratio results in N-polarity GaN films and intermediate Al/N ratio leads to mixed-polarity GaN films with poor electrical quality. GaN films tend to grow with Ga polarity on Al-rich AIN buffer layers. GaN films with different polarities are confirmed by in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction during the growth process. Wet chemical etching, together with atomic force microscopy, also proves the polarity assignments. The optimum value for room-temperature Hall mobility of the Ga-polarity GaN film is 703cm^2/V.s, which is superior to the N-polarity and mixed-polarity GaN films.     

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.     

Study on the nitridation of β-Ga_2O_3 films

Single-crystal GaN layers have been obtained by nitriding β-Ga_2O_3 films in NH_3 atmosphere. The effect of the temperature and time on the nitridation and conversion of Ga_2O_3 films have been investigated. The nitridation process results in lots of holes in the surface of films. The higher nitridation temperature and longer time can promote the nitridation and improve the crystal quality of GaN films. The converted Ga N porous films show the single-crystal structures and lowstress, which can be used as templates for the epitaxial growth of high-quality GaN.     

Improvement in a-plane GaN crystalline quality using wet etching method

Nonpolar （1120） GaN films are grown on the etched a-plane GaN substrates via metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. High-resolution X-ray diffraction analysis shows great decreases in the full width at half maximum of the samples grown on etched substrates compared with those of the sample without etching, both on-axis and off-axis, indicating the reduced dislocation densities and improved crystalline quality of these samples. The spatial mapping of the E2 （high） phonon mode demonstrates the smaller line width with a black background in the wing region, which testifies the reduced dislocation densities and enhanced crystalline quality of the epitaxial lateral overgrowth areas. Raman scattering spectra of the E2 （high） peaks exhibit in-plane compressive stress for all the overgrowth samples, and the E2 （high） peaks of samples grown on etched substrates shift toward the lower frequency range, indicating the relaxations of in-plane stress in these GaN films. Furthermore, room temperature photoluminescence measurement demonstrates a significant decrease in the yellow-band emission intensity of a-plane GaN grown on etched templates, which also illustrates the better optical properties of these samples.     

GaN Films Grown on Si （111） Substrates Using a Composite Buffer with Low Temperature A1N Interlayer

A GaN interlayer between low temperature （LT） A1N and high temperature （PIT） A1N is introduced to combine HT AIN, LT A1N and composition-graded A1GaN as a novel buffer layer for GaN films grown on Si （111） substrates. The crystal quality, surface morphology and strain state of the GaN film with this new buffer are compared with those of GaN grown on a conventional buffer structure. By changing the thickness of LT A1N, the crystal quality is optimized and the crack-free GaN film is obtained. The in-plane strain in the GaN film can be changed from tensile to compressive strain with the increase in LT A1N thickness.     

Nitrogen Adatom Diffusion on a Ga－Rich GaN （0001） Surface

The diffusion of N adatoms on a Ga-rich GaN(O001) surface has been studied using density-functional theory.The configuration of Ga adatoms on a Ga-rich GaN surface has been identified. The first adlayer Ga adatoms are on top of the terminating substrate Ga atoms, and the outmost adlayer Ga adatoms exist randomly at the T4 or H3 sites. A very different diffusivity of N adatoms on a Ga-rich GaN(0001) surface has been found. The excess Ga adatoms on a GaN(0001) surface reduce the diffusion barrier by 0.75eV and influence the migration path. It seems that bilayer Ga adatoms are helpful for N atom diffusion.     

Microstructure and strain analysis of GaN epitaxial films using in-plane grazing incidence x-ray diffraction

This paper investigates the major structural parameters,such as crystal quality and strain state of (001)-oriented GaN thin films grown on sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition,using an in-plane grazing incidence x-ray diffraction technique.The results are analysed and compared with a complementary out-of-plane xray diffraction technique.The twist of the GaN mosaic structure is determined through the direct grazing incidence measurement of (100) reflection which agrees well with the result obtained by extrapolation method.The method for directly determining the in-plane lattice parameters of the GaN layers is also presented.Combined with the biaxial strain model,it derives the lattice parameters corresponding to fully relaxed GaN films.The GaN epilayers show an increasing residual compressive stress with increasing layer thickness when the two dimensional growth stage is established,reaching to a maximum level of-0.89 GPa.     

Nonpolar a-plane GaN grown on r-plane sapphire using multilayer AlN buffer by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Mirror-like and pit-free non-polar a-plane (1 1 −2 0) GaN films are grown on r-plane (1 −1 0 2) sapphire substrates using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) with multilayer high-low-high temperature AlN buffer layers. The buffer layer structure and film quality are essential to the growth of a flat, crack-free and pit-free a-plane GaN film. The multilayer AlN buffer structure includes a thin low-temperature-deposited AlN (LT-AlN) layer inserted into the high-temperature-deposited AlN (HT-AlN) layer. The results demonstrate that the multilayer AlN buffer structure can improve the surface morphology of the upper a-plane GaN film. The grown multilayer AlN buffer structure reduced the tensile stress on the AlN buffer layers and increased the compressive stress on the a-plane GaN film. The multilayer AlN buffer structure markedly improves the surface morphology of the a-plane GaN film, as revealed by scanning electron microscopy. The effects of various growth V/III ratios was investigated to obtain a-plane GaN films with better surface morphology. The mean roughness of the surface was 1.02 nm, as revealed by atomic force microscopy. Accordingly, the multilayer AlN buffer structure improves the surface morphology and facilitates the complete coalescence of the a-plane GaN layer.     

利用MOCVD在r面蓝宝石上生长的α面GaN中两步AlN缓冲层的优化

采用两步AlN缓冲层(一层低温AlN和一层高温AlN)在r面蓝宝石衬底上生长了非极性的α面GaN,并利用高分辨X射线衍射和光致荧光谱对所生长的材料进行了研究.两步AIN缓冲层在我们之前的工作中已被证明比单步高温AlN或低温GaN缓冲层更有利于减小材料各向异性和提高晶体质量,本文进一步优化了两步AlN缓冲层的结构,并得到了各向异性更小,晶体质量更好的α面GaN薄膜.分析表明,两步AlN缓冲层中的低温AlN层在减小各向异性中起着关键作用.低温AlN层能抑制了优势方向(c轴)的原子迁移,有利于劣势方向(m轴)的原子迁移,从而减小了Al原子在不同方向迁移能力的差异,并为其后的高温AlN缓冲层和GaN层提供"生长模板",以得到各向异性更小、晶体质量更好的α面GaN材料.     

Room-temperature ferromagnetism and in-plane magnetic anisotropy characteristics of nonpolar GaN:Mn films

Diluted magnetic nonpolar GaN:Mn films have been fabricated by implanting Mn ions into nonpolar a-plane () p-type GaN films and a subsequent rapid thermal annealing process. The ferromagnetism properties of the films were studied by means of superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). Clearly in-plane magnetic anisotropy characteristics of the sample at 10 K were revealed with the direction of the applied magnetic field rotating along the in-plane [0 0 0 1]-axis. Moreover, obvious ferromagnetic properties of the sample up to 350 K were detected by means of the temperature-dependent SQUID.     

Effects of V/III ratio on the growth of a-plane GaN films

The non-polar a-plane GaN is grown on an r-plane sapphire substrate directly without a buffer layer by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition and the effects of V/III ratio growth conditions are investigated. Atomic force microscopy results show that triangular pits are formed at a relatively high V/III ratio, while a relatively low V/III ratio can enhance the lateral growth rate along the c-axis direction. The higher V/III ratio leads to a high density of pits in comparison with the lower V/III ratio. The surface morphology is improved greatly by using a low V/III ratio of 500 and the roughness mean square of the surface is only 3.9 nm. The high resolution X-ray diffraction characterized crystal structural results show that the rocking curve full width at half maximum along the m axis decreases from 0.757° to 0.720°, while along the c axis increases from 0.220° to 0.251° with the V/III increasing from 500 μmol/min to 2000 μmol/min, which indicates that a relatively low V/III ratio is conducible to the c-axis growth of a-plane GaN.     

Reconstruction control of magnetic properties during epitaxial growth of ferromagnetic Mn3-deltaGa on Wurtzite GaN(0001)

Binary ferromagnetic Mn(3-delta)Ga (1.2<3-delta< or =1.5) crystalline thin films have been epitaxially grown on wurtzite GaN(0001) surfaces using rf N-plasma molecular beam epitaxy. The film structure is face-centered tetragonal with CuAu type-I (L1(0)) ordering with (111) orientation. The in-plane epitaxial relationship to GaN is nearly ideal with [110](MnGa) parallel[1100](GaN) and [112](MnGa) parallel[1120](GaN). We observe magnetic anisotropy along both the in-plane and out-of-plane directions. The magnetic moments are found to depend on the Mn/(Mn+Ga) flux ratio and can be controlled by observation of the surface reconstruction during growth, which varies from 1x1 to 2x2 with increasing Mn stoichiometry.     

Polarization properties of nonpolar GaN films and (In,Ga)N/GaN multiple quantum wells

We have grown GaN films and (In,Ga)N/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy on -LiAlO₂(100) substrates. Due to the crystal symmetry of -LiAlO₂(100), GaN films and (In,Ga)N/GaN MQWs can be realized in a nonpolar (M-plane) configuration, i.e., the c axis of the wurtzite unit cell lies in the growth plane. For compressively, anisotropically strained M-plane GaN films, the band structure of the valence band changes in such a way that the optical transmittance becomes 100% linearly polarized for two orthogonal in-plane directions, where one of these directions is parallel to the c axis of the GaN film. The photoluminescence properties of M-plane In_0.1Ga_0.9N/GaN MQWs exhibit a strong in-plane optical anisotropy for linear polarization with an energy-dependent polarization degree of up to 96%, which is presumably also due to a large valence-band splitting induced by the large compressive strain in the QWs. PACS 78.40.Fy; 78.66.Fd; 71.20.Nr     

Molecular dynamics simulations of AlN deposition on GaN substrate

ABSTRACT

In this work, we investigated the deposition of AlN film on GaN substrate by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The effects of GaN substrate surface, growth temperature, and injected N: Al flux ratio on the growth of AlN film were simulated and studied. Consequently, the deposited AlN film on the (0001) Ga-terminated GaN surface achieves better surface morphology and crystallinity than that on the (000-1) N-terminated GaN surface due to the different diffusion ability of Al and N adatoms on two GaN surfaces. Furthermore, with the increase of growth temperature, the surface morphology and crystallinity of AlN film were improved owing to the enhanced mobility of adatoms. At the optimised injected N: Al flux ratio of 1, comparatively good surface morphology and crystallinity of deposited AlN films were realised. This method lays a foundation for the follow-up real-time study of defects and stress evolution of AlN on GaN and can be applied to film growth of other materials.