The effect of single A1GaN interlayer on the structural properties of GaN epilayers grown on Si （111） substrates

High-quality and nearly crack-free GaN epitaxial layer was obtained by inserting a single AlGaN interlayer between GaN epilayer and high-temperature AlN buffer layer on Si (111) substrate by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. This paper investigates the effect of AlGaN interlayer on the structural properties of the resulting GaN epilayer. It confirms from the optical microscopy and Raman scattering spectroscopy that the AlGaN interlayer has a remarkable effect on introducing relative compressive strain to the top GaN layer and preventing the formation of cracks. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis reveal that a significant reduction in both screw and edge threading dislocations is achieved in GaN epilayer by the insertion of AlGaN interlayer. The process of threading dislocation reduction in both AlGaN interlayer and GaN epilayer is demonstrated.     

Influence of AlN buffer layer thickness on structural properties of GaN epilayer grown on Si (111) substrate with AlGaN interlayer

We present the growth of GaN epilayer on Si (111) substrate with a single AlGaN interlayer sandwiched between the GaN epilayer and AlN buffer layer by using the metalorganic chemical vapour deposition. The influence of the AlN buffer layer thickness on structural properties of the GaN epilayer has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, optical microscopy and high-resolution x-ray diffraction. It is found that an AlN buffer layer with the appropriate thickness plays an important role in increasing compressive strain and improving crystal quality during the growth of AlGaN interlayer, which can introduce a more compressive strain into the subsequent grown GaN layer, and reduce the crack density and threading dislocation density in GaN film.     

Effect of double AlN buffer layer on the qualities of GaN films grown by radio-frequency molecular beam epitaxy

This paper reports that the GaN thin films with Ga-polarity and high quality were grown by radio-frequency molecular beam epitaxy on sapphire （0001） substrate with a double A1N buffer layer. The buffer layer consists of a high-temperature （HT） A1N layer and a low-temperature （LT） A1N layer grown at 800℃ and 600℃, respectively. It is demonstrated that the HT-A1N layer can result in the growth of GaN epilayer in Ga-polarity and the LT-A1N layer is helpful for the improvement of the epilayer quality. It is observed that the carrier mobility of the GaN epilayer increases from 458 to 858cm^2/V.s at room temperature when the thickness of LT-A1N layer varies from 0 to 20nm. The full width at half maximum of x-ray rocking curves also demonstrates a substantial improvement in the quality of GaN epilavers by the utilization of LT-A1N layer.     

Effect of Reactor Pressure on Qualities of GaN Layers Grown by Hydride Vapour Phase Epitaxy

The influence of reactor pressure on GaN layers grown by hydride vapour phase epitaxy （HVPE） is investigated. By decreasing the reactor pressure from0. 7 to 0.5 mm, the GaN layer growth mode changes from the island-like one to the step flow. The improvements in structural and optical properties and surface morphology of GaN layers are observed in the step flow growth mode. The results clearly indicate that the reactor pressure, similarly to the growth temperature, is One of the important parameters to influence the qualities of GaN epilayers grown by HVPE, due to the change of growth mode.     

Tetragonal Distortion of GaN Epilayer with Multiple Buffer Layers on Si （111） Studied by RBS/Channelling and HRXRD

Rutherford backscattering （RBS）/channelling and high resolution x-ray diffraction （HRXRD） have been used to characterize the tetragonal distortion of a GaN epilayer with four Alx Ga1-xN and single AIN buffer layers grown on a Si （111） substrate by metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy （MOVPE）. The results show that a 1000nm GaN epilayer with a perfect crystal quality （Xmin = 1.54%） can be grown on the Si （111） substrate in virtue of multiple buffer layers. Using the RBS/channelling angular scan around an off-normal （1213） axis in the （1010） plane and the conventional HRXRD θ - 20 scans normal to GaN （0002） and （1122） planes at the 0° and 180° azimuth angles, the tetragonal distortion eT, which is caused by the elastic strain in the epilayer and different buffer layers, can be obtained respectively. The two experiments are testified at one result, the tetragonal distortion of GaN epilayer is nearly to a fully relaxed （eT = 0）.     

Changes of the electron dynamics in hydrogen inductively coupled plasma

Changes of the electron dynamics in hydrogen （H2） radio-frequency （RF） inductively coupled plasmas are investigated using a hairpin probe and an intensified charged coupled device （ICCD）. The electron density, plasma emission intensity, and input current （voltage） are measured during the E to H mode transitions at different pressures. It is found that the electron density, plasma emission intensity, and input current jump up discontinuously, and the input voltage jumps down at the E to H mode transition points. And the threshold power of the E to H mode transition decreases with the increase of the pressure. Moreover, space and phase resolved optical emission spectroscopic measurements reveal that, in the E mode, the RF dynamics is characterized by one dominant excitation per RF cycle, while in the H mode, there are two excitation maxima within one cycle.     

The influence of AlN/GaN superlattice intermediate layer on the properties of GaN grown on Si（111） substrates

AlN/GaN superlattice buffer is inserted between GaN epitaxial layer and Si substrate before epitaxial growth of GaN layer. High-quality and crack-free GaN epitaxial layers can be obtained by inserting AlN/GaN superlattice buffer layer. The influence of AlN/GaN superlattice buffer layer on the properties of GaN films are investigated in this paper. One of the important roles of the superlattice is to release tensile strain between Si substrate and epilayer. Raman spectra show a substantial decrease of in-plane tensile strain in GaN layers by using AlN/GaN superlattice buffer layer. Moreover, TEM cross-sectional images show that the densities of both screw and edge dislocations are significantly reduced. The GaN films grown on Si with the superlattice buffer also have better surface morphology and optical properties.     

Depth-dependent mosaic tilt and twist in GaN epilayer:An approximate evaluation

An approach based on depth-sensitive skew-angle x-ray diffraction （SAXRD） is presented for approximately evalu- ating the depth-dependent mosaic tilt and twist in wurtzite c-plane GaN epilayers. It is found that （103） plane and （101） plane, among the lattice planes not perpendicular to the sample surface, are the best choices to measure the depth profiles of tilt and twist for a GaN epilayer with a thickness of less than 2 μm according to the diffraction geometry of SAXRD. As an illustration, the depth-sensitive （103）/（101） ω-scans of a 1.4-μm GaN film grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on sapphire substrate are measured and analyzed to show the feasibility of this approach.     

Structural and optical properties of Al1-xInxN epilayers on GaN template grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

This paper reports that Al1 xInxN epilayers were grown on GaN template by metalorganic chemical vapor de-position with an In content of 7%-20%. X-ray diffraction results indicate that all these Al1 xInxN epilayers have a relatively low density of threading dislocations. Rutherford backscattering/channeling measurements provide the exact compositional information and show that a gradual variation in composition of the Al1 xInxN epilayer happens along the growth direction. The experimental results of optical reflection clearly show the bandgap energies of Al1 xInxN epilayers. A bowing parameter of 6.5 eV is obtained from the compositional dependence of the energy gap. The cathodoluminescence peak energy of the Al1 xInxN epilayer is much lower than its bandgap, indicating a relatively large Stokes shift in the Al1 xInxN sample.     

Photoluminescence and lasing properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition

Photoluminescence （PL） and lasing properties of InAs/GaAs quantum dots （QDs） with different growth procedures prepared by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition are studied. PL measurements show that the low growth rate QD sample has a larger PL intensity and a narrower PL line width than the high growth rate sample. During rapid thermal annealing, however, the low growth rate sample shows a greater blueshift of PL peak wavelength. This is caused by the larger InAs layer thickness which results from the larger 2-3 dimensional transition critical layer thickness for the QDs in the low-growth-rate sample. A growth technique including growth interruption and in-situ annealing, named indium flush method, is used during the growth of GaAs cap layer, which can flatten the GaAs surface effectively. Though the method results in a blueshift of PL peak wavelength and a broadening of PL line width, it is essential for the fabrication of room temperature working QD lasers.