Low-temperature growth of high-Tc superconducting films by plasma-enhanced metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

Plasma-enhanced MOCVD in which metal-organic compounds are sublimated directly into the growth chamber is studied for the first time as a new low-temperature process for growing superconducting YBa₂Cu₃O-_-x thin films. Y(THD)₃, Ba(THD)₂, Cu(THD)₂ and oxygen are used as metal sources and oxydizing agent. Emission spectroscopy reveals that activated metal-organic compounds and activated oxygen species are present during film growth. Superconducting YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x films whose zero-resistivity temperature are 50 K and 82 K are grown at 550°C and 600°C.     

Low-temperature growth of epitaxial ZnO films on (001) sapphire by ultraviolet- assisted pulsed laser deposition

ZnO thin films have been grown on thin Si₃N₄ membranes and (001) sapphire substrates by an ultraviolet-assisted pulsed laser deposition (UVPLD) technique. The microstructure of the films grown on Si₃N₄ membranes, investigated by transmission electron microscopy, showed that crystalline and textured films can be grown by UVPLD at a substrate temperature of only 100 °C. For deposition temperatures higher than 400 °C, ZnO films grown on sapphire substrates were found to be epitaxial by Rutherford backscattering (RBS) and X-ray diffraction measurements. The minimum yield of channeling RBS spectra recorded from films deposited at 550 °C was around 2% and the FWHM of the rocking curve for the (002) diffraction peak was 0.17°; these values are similar to those recorded from ZnO layers grown by conventional PLD at 750 °C.     

金属有机物化学气相沉积生长GaN薄膜的室温热电特性研究

采用金属有机物化学气相沉积技术生长了不同掺杂浓度的GaN薄膜, 并且通过霍尔效应测试和塞贝克效应测试, 表征了室温下GaN薄膜的载流子浓度、迁移率和塞贝克系数. 在实验测试的基础上, 计算了GaN薄膜的热电功率因子, 并且结合理论热导率确定了室温条件下GaN薄膜的热电优值(ZT). 研究结果表明: GaN薄膜的迁移率随着载流子浓度的增加而减小, 电导率随着载流子浓度的增加而增加; GaN 薄膜材料的塞贝克系数随载流子浓度的增加而降低, 其数量级在100–500 μV/K范围内; GaN薄膜材料在载流子浓度为1.60×10¹⁸ cm^-3时, 热电功率因子出现极大值4.72×10^-4 W/mK²; 由于Si杂质浓度的增加, 增强了GaN薄膜中的声子散射, 使得GaN薄膜的热导率随着载流子浓度的增加而降低. GaN薄膜的载流子浓度为1.60×10¹⁸ cm^-3时, 室温ZT达到极大值0.0025.     

Low-temperature chemical vapor deposition of highly doped n-type epitaxial Si at high growth rate

We investigated the growth of in-situ n-type doped epitaxial Si layers with arsenic and phosphorus by means of low-temperature chemical vapor deposition using trisilane as Si-precursor. Indeed, in order to prevent the alteration of the characteristics of the devices which are already present on the wafer, an epitaxy process at low temperature is highly desired for applications such as BiCMOS. In this work, the varying parameters are the deposition temperature, the Si-precursor mass flow and the dopant gas flow. As a result, a process for the deposition of heavily doped epilayers was demonstrated at 600 °C with high deposition rate, which is important for maintaining high throughput and low process cost. We showed that using trisilane as a Si-precursor resulted in a much more linear n-type doping behavior than using dichlorosilane. Therefore it allowed an easier process control and a wider dynamic doping range. Our process is an interesting route for the epitaxy of a low-resistance emitter layer for bipolar transistor application.     

Temperature effect on the electrical, structural and optical properties of N-doped ZnO films by plasma-free metal organic chemical vapor deposition

N-doped p-type ZnO films were grown by plasma-free metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The effect of substrate temperature on the electrical, optical, and structural properties of the N-doped ZnO films was investigated by Hall-effect, photoluminescence, X-ray diffraction measurements. The electrical properties of the films were extremely sensitive to the substrate temperature and the conduction type could be reversed in a narrow range from 380 °C to 420 °C. Based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, a high compensation effect in the N-doped ZnO films grown by plasma-free MOCVD was suggested to explain the temperature-dependent phenomenon.     

Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of organic particle thin films

Five organic precursors, 2,5-dimethyl-2,4-hexadiene, 2,5-norbornadiene, α-terpinine, limonene, and styrene have been studied as precursors for plasma deposition of low-k films. The films have been produced under particle-forming conditions in the plasma. Accordingly, films have a granular structure with grain sizes in the range 40–400 nm, as determined by AFM. Annealing at 400 °C preserves the granular structure of the films while the grain size decreases. Of the five precursors examined, 2,5-dimethyl-2,4-hexadiene and 2,5-norbornadiene produce films with the lowest dielectric constant, with a value of 3.3. While the dielectric constant varies with deposition conditions (pressure, flow rate, concentration of precursor), we find that the grain size of the films correlates most closely with the dielectric constant and conclude that the lowest value of the dielectric constant are obtained under conditions that promote the formation of particles larger than about 200 nm.     

Photoluminescence properties of Eu-doped ZnO films grown by sputtering-assisted metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Photoluminescence (PL) properties of Eu-doped ZnO (ZnO:Eu) grown by a sputtering-assisted metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technique were investigated. In PL measurements at 300 K, the samples annealed at 600 °C for 30 min showed clear red-emission lines due to the intra-4f shell transition of ⁵D₀→⁷F_J (J=0–4) in Eu³⁺. In photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectra, the PL was observed under the high-energy excitation above the band-gap energy of ZnO (indirect excitation) and the low-energy excitation resonant to the energy levels of ⁷F₀–⁵D₃ and ⁷F₀–⁵D₂ transitions in Eu³⁺ (direct excitation). The PL lifetime under the indirect excitation was shorter than that under the direct excitations. These PL properties revealed that the energy transfer from ZnO host to Eu³⁺ was accompanied under indirect excitation.     

Catalyst-free growth of well-aligned arsenic-doped ZnO nanowires by chemical vapor deposition method

ZnO nanowires with different arsenic concentration were grown on Si (1 0 0) substrates by chemical vapor deposition method without using catalyst. Zn/GaAs mixed powders were used as Zn and As source, respectively. Oxygen was used as oxidant. The images of scanning electron microscope show that the arsenic-doped ZnO nanowires with preferred c-axial orientation were obtained, which is in well accordance with the X-ray diffraction analysis. The arsenic related acceptor emission was observed in the photoluminescence spectra at 11 K for all arsenic-doped ZnO samples. This method for the preparation of arsenic-doped ZnO nanowires may open the way to realize the ZnO nanowires based light-emitting diode and laser diode.     

Modified dislocation filter method: toward growth of GaAs on Si by metal organic chemical vapor deposition

In this paper, metamorphic growth of GaAs on (001) oriented Si substrate, with a combination method of applying dislocation filter layer (DFL) and three-step growth process, was conducted by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The effectiveness of the multiple InAs/GaAs self-organized quantum dot (QD) layers acting as a dislocation filter was researched in detail. And the growth conditions of the InAs QDs were optimized by theoretical calculations and experiments. A 2-μm-thick buffer layer was grown on the Si substrate with the three-step growth method according to the optimized growth conditions. Then, a 114-nm-thick DFL and a 1-μm-thick GaAs epilayer were grown. The results we obtained demonstrated that the DFL can effectively bend dislocation direction via the strain field around the QDs. The optimal structure of the DFL is composed of three-layer InAs QDs with a growth time of 55 s. The method could reduce the etch pit density from about 3 × 10⁶ cm^?2 to 9 × 10⁵ cm^?2 and improve the crystalline quality of the GaAs epilayers on Si.     

The multiscale simulation of metal organic chemical vapor deposition growth dynamics of GaInP thin film

As a Group III–V compound, GaInP is a high-efficiency luminous material. Metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technology is a very efficient way to uniformly grow multi-chip, multilayer and large-area thin film. By combining the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) methods with virtual reality (VR) technology, this paper presents a multiscale simulation of fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and molecular dynamics to study the growth process of GaInP thin film in a vertical MOCVD reactor. The results of visualization truly and intuitively not only display the distributional properties of the gas’ thermal and flow fields in a MOCVD reactor but also display the process of GaInP thin film growth in a MOCVD reactor. The simulation thus provides us with a fundamental guideline for optimizing GaInP MOCVD growth.     

Silicon enhanced carbon nanotube growth on nickel films by chemical vapor deposition

Silicon enhances carbon nanotube growth on nickel films by chemical vapor deposition using methane and hydrogen. Nanotube growth characteristic is significantly improved on nickel films patterned by argon plasma etching on silicon oxide layers. Auger electron spectroscopy shows that a reduced silicon phase forms in the surface silicon oxide layer by Ar ion bombardment used for patterning. The enhanced growth of carbon nanotubes could be ascribed to an oxygen removal effect by silicon in the process of synthesis.     

Formation of the ferroelectric domains in epitaxial PbTiO3 thin films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

3 thin films have been prepared by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition under reduced pressure. The formation of ferroelectric domains in films grown on SrTiO₃ and LaAlO₃ substrates was investigated by synchrotron radiation and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. Single-domain (3000-Å thick) and multi-domain (4500-Å thick) PbTiO₃ films were produced on SrTiO₃. For multi-domain PbTiO₃ film, the c-domain presented epitaxial structure with its c-axis perpendicular to the substrate surface, while a-domains aligned four-fold symmetrically with c-domains by 2.79^° off the c-axis of c-domains. In the film, the measured lattice constants (a, b and c) of the a- and c-domains were different from each other, indicating that the films suffered a modulated strain during domain formation. In contrast, both the a and c domains of films on LaAlO₃ were alternatively aligned on substrate with the a-axis of the a-domain and the c-axis of c-domains perpendicular to the substrate surface. Two-dimensional distribution of these domains is proposed and the formation of these kinds of domains is discussed. The surface morphology and phase transition process of single and multi domain PbTiO₃ film on SrTiO₃ were studied by atomic force microscope (AFM) and high temperature X-ray diffraction, respectively. Received: 15 August 1996/Accepted: 21 January 1997     

ZnO films grown by successive chemical solution deposition

ZnO films were grown from 0.1-M zincate solutions on stainless-steel and aluminosilicate glass substrates by the successive chemical solution deposition method. The structure, morphology, composition, and optical emission properties of the films were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and photoluminescence techniques. Results revealed that the as-grown film contains a substantial amount of amorphous zinc hydroxide (15–25%), at least on its surface. This can be reduced to 7% by annealing the film in argon (350 °C, 1 h). Despite the presence of the hydroxide phase, the films hexagonal lattice constants match the standard values. The films surface texture and the grains shape and preferential orientation depend on the type of the substrate and its surface conditioning. The UV photoluminescence emission from as-grown films at 3.22±0.04 eV (380–390 nm) and its suppression due to the effect of chlorine are addressed. PACS 81.16.Be; 81.05.Dz; 78.55.Et; 79.60.-i; 68.55.Jk     

High-performance InAlGaN/GaN enhancement-mode MOS-HEMTs grown by pulsed metal organic chemical vapor deposition

Pulsed metal organic chemical vapor deposition was employed to grow nearly polarization matched InAlGaN/GaN heterostructures. A relatively low sheet carrier density of 1.8×10~(12)cm~(-2), together with a high electron mobility of1229.5 cm~2/V·s, was obtained for the prepared heterostructures. The surface morphology of the heterostructures was also significantly improved, i.e., with a root mean square roughness of 0.29 nm in a 2 μm×2 μm scan area. In addition to the improved properties, the enhancement-mode metal–oxide–semiconductor high electron mobility transistors(MOSHEMTs) processed on the heterostructures not only exhibited a high threshold voltage(VTH) of 3.1 V, but also demonstrated a significantly enhanced drain output current density of 669 m A/mm. These values probably represent the largest values obtained from the InAlGaN based enhancement-mode devices to the best of our knowledge. This study strongly indicates that the InAlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown by pulsed metal organic chemical vapor deposition could be promising for the applications of novel nitride-based electronic devices.     

Selective growth of ZnO nanodots prepared by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on focused-ion beam-nanopatterned substrates

Selective formation of ZnO nanodots grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) was achieved on focused-ion beam (FIB)-nanopatterned SiO₂ and Si substrates. The selective formation characteristics, dimension, and density of ZnO nanodots on FIB-nanopatterned substrates strongly depended on the FIB-patterning and MOCVD-growth conditions. The mechanism of the selective formation of ZnO nanodots on FIB-nanopatterned SiO₂ substrates is attributed to a surfactant effect of the implanted Ga which leads to the formation of the preferred nucleation sites for the growth of ZnO nanodots, while that of ZnO nanodots on nanopatterned Si substrates is mainly considered in terms of the generation of surface atomic steps and kinks, which are created by Ga⁺ ion sputtering, on the patterned Si areas.     

Growth and characterization of AlN epilayers using pulsed metal organic chemical vapor deposition

We report the growth of Al N epilayers on c-plane sapphire substrates by pulsed metal organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD). The sources of trimethylaluminium(TMAl) and ammonia were pulse introduced into the reactor to avoid the occurrence of the parasitic reaction. Through adjusting the duty cycle ratio of TMAl to ammonia from 0.8 to 3.0, the growth rate of Al N epilayers could be controlled in the range of 0.24 m/h to 0.93 m/h. The high-resolution x-ray diffraction(HRXRD) measurement showed that the full width at half maximum(FWHM) of the(0002) and(10-12) reflections for a sample would be 194 arcsec and 421 arcsec, respectively. The step-flow growth mode was observed in the sample with the atomic level flat surface steps, in which a root-mean-square(RMS) roughness was lower to 0.2 nm as tested by atomic force microscope(AFM). The growth process of Al N epilayers was discussed in terms of crystalline quality, surface morphology,and residual stress.     

Deposition of thin rhodium films by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Thin films of rhodium have been prepared starting from dicarbonyl-2.4-pentadionato-rhodium(I), Rh(CO)₂C₅H₇O₂, by plasma enhanced CVD. The dependence of the deposition rate and film properties on substrate temperature, partial pressure of the organometallic and on hydrogen has been studied. Metal contents of 100% and thin-film resistivities as low as 5 times the bulk resistivity of rhodium have been achieved.     

Phase-separation suppression in GaN-rich side of GaNP alloys grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition

The GaN-rich side of GaNP ternary alloys has been successfully synthesized by light-radiation heating and low-pressure metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. X-ray diffraction (XRD) rocking curves show that the (0002) peak of GaNP shifts to a smaller angle with increasing P content. From the GaNP photoluminescence (PL) spectra, the red shifts from the band-edge emission of GaN are determined to be 73, 78 and 100 meV, respectively, in the GaNP alloys with the P contents of 1.5%, 5.5% and 7.5%. No PL peak or XRD peak related to GaP is observed, indicating that phase separation induced by the short-range distribution of GaP-rich regions in the GaNP layer has been effectively suppressed. The phase-separation suppression in the GaNP layer is associated with the high growth rate and the quick cooling rate under the given growth conditions, which can efficiently restrain the accumulation of P atoms in the GaNP layer. PACS 68.55.Nq; 78.55.Cr; 81.15.Gh; 82.80.Pv; 78.66.Fd     

激光轴向偏焦法平整化CVD金刚石膜

利用Nd：YAG型金刚石精密激光切割机,采用激光轴向偏焦法对化学气相沉积（CVD）法制备的金刚石膜表面进行扫描式平整化处理,利用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、粗糙度仪和金相显微镜对平整化后的金刚石表面进行表征,研究了激光充电电压和焦点位置对扫描凹槽宽度和深度的影响,以及扫描间距对平整化效果的影响。研究结果表明：扫描凹槽宽度随激光充电电压的升高而增大;凹槽深度随激光充电电压的升高而增大,随偏焦量的增大而增大。激光轴向偏焦法对CVD金刚石膜进行平整化处理后,其粗糙度显著减小,利用氢等离子体对其表面进行刻蚀处理,能够有效去除表层石墨,从而达到理想的平整化效果。     

激光轴向偏焦法平整化CVD金刚石膜

利用Nd:YAG型金刚石精密激光切割机,采用激光轴向偏焦法对化学气相沉积（CVD）法制备的金刚石膜表面进行扫描式平整化处理,利用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、粗糙度仪和金相显微镜对平整化后的金刚石表面进行表征,研究了激光充电电压和焦点位置对扫描凹槽宽度和深度的影响,以及扫描间距对平整化效果的影响。研究结果表明:扫描凹槽宽度随激光充电电压的升高而增大;凹槽深度随激光充电电压的升高而增大,随偏焦量的增大而增大。激光轴向偏焦法对CVD金刚石膜进行平整化处理后,其粗糙度显著减小,利用氢等离子体对其表面进行刻蚀处理,能够有效去除表层石墨,从而达到理想的平整化效果。