Microstructure and strain films using in-plane grazing analysis of GaN epitaxial 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 x- ray diffraction technique. The twist of the GaN mosaic structure is determined through the direct grazing incidence t 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.     

金属有机化学气相沉积法生长条件对AlN薄膜面内晶粒尺寸的影响

研究了金属有机化学气相沉积设备生长条件对AlN 薄膜质量的影响. 应用Williamson-Hall方法测试并分析了不同氮化时间、AlN缓冲层生长时间、 载气流量生长参数对AlN薄膜的面内晶粒尺寸的影响. 实验结果表明, 随着氮化时间减小, 缓冲层生长时间增加, 载气流量减少, AlN薄膜的侧向生长和岛的合并能力增强, 面内晶粒尺寸增大, 从而晶体质量也变好. 关键词： AlN Williamson-Hall 面内晶粒尺寸     

The effects of sapphire nitridation on GaN growth by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition

In situ optical reflectivity measurements are employed to monitor the GaN epilayer growth process above a low-temperature GaN buffer layer on a c-plane sapphire substrate by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition. It is found that the lateral growth of the GaN islands and their coalescence are promoted in the initial growth stage if optimized nitridation time and temperature are selected when the substrate is pre-exposed to ammonia. As confirmed by atomic force microscopy observations, the quality of the GaN epilayers is closely dependent on the surface morphology of the nitridated buffer layer, especially grain size and nucleation density.     

Effects of polarization and p-type GaN resistivity on the spectral response of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well solar cells

Effects of polarization and p-type GaN resistivity on the spectral response of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well(MQW) solar cells are investigated. It is found that due to the reduction of piezoelectric polarization and the enhancement of tunneling transport of photo-generated carriers in MQWs, the external quantum efficiency(EQE) of the solar cells increases in a low energy spectral range(λ 370 nm) when the barrier thickness value decreases from 15 nm to 7.5 nm. But the EQE decreases abruptly when the barrier thickness value decreases down to 3.75 nm. The reasons for these experimental results are analyzed. We are aware that the reduction of depletion width in MQW region, caused by the high resistivity of the p-type GaN layer may be the main reason for the abnormally low EQE value at long wavelengths(λ 370 nm).     

A MOVPE method for improving InGaN growth quality by pre-introducing TMIn

We propose a metal organic vapor phase epitaxy(MOVPE) method of pre-introducing TMIn during the growth of uGa N to improve the subsequent growth of In Ga N and discuss the impact of this method in detail. Monitoring the MOVPE by the interference curve generated by the laser incident on the film surface, we found that this method avoided the problem of the excessive In Ga N growth rate. Further x-ray diffraction(XRD), photoluminescence(PL), and atomic force microscope(AFM) tests showed that the quality of In Ga N is improved. It is inferred that by introducing TMIn in advance, the indium atom can replace the gallium atom in the reactor walls, delivery pipes, and other corners. Hence the auto-incorporation of gallium can be reduced when In Ga N is grown, so as to improve the material quality.     

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.     

The effects of InGaN layer thickness on the performance of InGaN/GaN p-i-n solar cells

InGaN/GaN p-i-n solar cells, each with an undoped In0.12Ga0.88N absorption layer, are grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The effects of the thickness and dislocation density of the absorp- tion layer on the collection efficiency of InGaN-based solar cells are analyzed, and the experimental results demonstrate that the thickness of the InGaN layer and the dislocation density significantly affect the performance. An optimized InGaN- based solar cell with a peak external quantum efficiency of 57% at a wavelength of 371 nm is reported. The full width at half maximum of the rocking curve of the （0002） InGaN layer is 180 arcsec.     

Influences of polarization effect and p-region doping concentration on the photocurrent response of solar-blind p–i–n avalanche photodiodes

The influences of polarization and p-region doping concentration on the photocurrent response of Al0.4Ga0.6N/Al0.4Ga0.6N/Al0.65Ga0.35N p–i–n avalanche photodetector are studied in a wide range of reverse bias voltages.The simulation results indicate that the photocurrent under high inverse bias voltage decreases with the increase of polarization effect,but increases rapidly with the increase of effective doping concentration in p-type region.These phenomena are analyzed based on the calculations of the intensity and distribution of the electric field.A high p-region doping concentration in the p–i–n avalanche photodetector is shown to be important for the efficient compensation for the detrimental polarization-induced electrostatic field.     

An Anomalous Gain Mechanism in GaN Schottky Barrier Ultraviolet Photodetectors

The gain mechanism in GaN Schottky barrier ultraviolet photodetectors is investigated by focused light beam. When the incident light illuminates the central region of the Schottky contact electrode, the responsiyity changes very little with the increase of reverse bias voltage. However, when the incident light illuminates the edge region of the electrode, the responsivity increases remarkably with the increase of reverse bias voltage, and the corresponding quantum efficiency could be even higher than 100%. It is proposed that the surface states near the edge of the electrode may lead to a reduction of effective Schottky barrier height and an enhancement of electron injection, resulting in the anomalous gain.     

Analysis of localization effect in blue-violet light emitting InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells with different well widths

Four blue-violet light emitting InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well(MQW) structures with different well widths are grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. The carrier localization effect in these samples is investigated mainly by temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements. It is found that the localization effect is enhanced as the well width increases from 1.8 nm to 3.6 nm in our experiments. The temperature induced PL peak blueshift and linewidth variation increase with increasing well width, implying that a greater amplitude of potential fluctuation as well as more localization states exist in wider wells. In addition, it is noted that the broadening of the PL spectra always occurs mainly on the low-energy side of the PL spectra due to the temperature-induced band-gap shrinkage, while in the case of the widest well, a large extension of the spectral curve also occurs in the high energy sides due to the existence of more shallow localized centers.