Optical properties and structural characteristics of ZnO thin films grown on a-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

We investigated structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films grown on (112?0) a-plane sapphire substrates using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Negligible biaxial stress in ZnO thin films is due to the use of (112?0) a-plane sapphire substrates and slow substrate cooling. The 14 K photoluminescence spectrum shows a blueshift of energy positions compared with ZnO single crystal. A donor with binding energy of 43 meV and an acceptor with binding energy of ～170 meV are identified by well-resolved photoluminescence spectra. A characteristic emission band at 3.320 eV (so-called A-line) is studied. Based on analysis from photoluminescence spectra, the origin of the A-line, it seems, is more likely an (e, A°) transition, in which defect behaves as an acceptor. The room-temperature photoluminescence is dominated by the FX at 3.307 eV, which is an indication of strongly reduced defect density in ZnO thin films.     

Distinct orientation of AlN thin films deposited on sapphire substrates by laser ablation

We report the experimental characterization of the charged species produced in excimer laser ablation of a superconducting intermetallic compound (YNi₂B₂C). By using energy-selective time-of-flight mass spectrometry, we have obtained direct measurements of both mass spectra and kinetic energy distributions of ions. The investigation has been carried out in the laser fluence range 1-5 J cm^-2, which is typical of laser ablation thin film deposition. High kinetic energies of the charged component (up to 0.4 keV) have been observed even at moderate laser fluences.     

The effect of geometry and post-annealing on surface acoustic wave characteristics of AlN thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering

This paper describes experimental relationship between surface acoustic wave (SAW) properties of two-port SAW resonators based on polycrystalline aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films grown on Si substrates by using a pulsed reactive magnetron sputtering system and their geometry's parameters. Moreover, the influence of post-deposition heat treatment on SAW properties of AlN thin films was investigated at different annealing temperature (600 °C and 900 °C). The measurement results show the number of the inter-digital transducers (IDT) finger pairs (N), the number of reflectors grating pairs (R) and the IDT center-to-center distance (L) related to insertion loss of SAW resonators. The best result of insertion loss was 15.6 dB for SAW resonators with R = 160 pair, N = 5 pair and L = 750 μm. At the same geometry parameters, the SAW velocity and insertion loss were improved slightly after annealing at 600 °C and were worse for the films annealed at 900 °C by changes in the surface morphology and stress on the film.     

The characteristics of surface acoustic waves on AlN/LiNbO3 substrates

The characteristics of surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) devices on various substrates were measured by a network analyzer in the temperature range from 0 to 80 °C. Based on the structure of IDT/AlN/LiNbO₃, it was revealed that the magnitude of the temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) of a SAW on a LiNbO₃ substrate was significantly decreased due to the thickness increase of AlN thin film deposited on the LiNbO₃ substrate. The TCF of a SAW on an AlN/LiNbO₃ device was measured to be about -51 ppm/°C at h/λ=0.1, where h is the thickness of the AlN film and λ is the wavelength of the SAW. This indicates that the deposition of an AlN film on a LiNbO₃ substrate could improve the temperature stability, as compared with that of a SAW on a LiNbO₃ substrate (-73 ppm/°C). The SAW device on the ST-X quartz is shown to have a positive TCF as the AlN thin film is deposited on the surface of the ST-X quartz. In addition, the phase velocity (V_p) of the SAW on an AlN/LiNbO₃ substrate was significantly increased by the increase of AlN thickness (h/λ). Received: 14 October 2002 / Accepted: 15 October 2002 / Published online: 29 January 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +886-7/525-4199, E-mail: ycc@ee.nsysu.edu.tw     

Effects of sapphire substrates surface treatment on the ZnO thin films grown by magnetron sputtering

The surface treatment effects of sapphire substrate on the ZnO thin films grown by magnetron sputtering were studied. The sapphire substrates properties have been investigated by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction rocking curves (XRCs). The results show that sapphire substrate surfaces have the best quality by CMP with subsequent chemical etching. The surface treatment effects of sapphire substrate on the ZnO thin films were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Results show that the intensity of (0 0 2) diffraction peak of ZnO thin films on sapphire substrates treated by CMP with subsequent chemical etching was strongest, FWHM of (0 0 2) diffraction peak is the narrowest and the intensity of UV peak of PL spectrum is strongest, indicating surface treatment on sapphire substrate preparation may improve ZnO thin films crystal quality and photoluminescent property.     

SAW characteristics of AlN films sputtered on silicon substrates

This article is focused on the analysis of the electroacoustic response of surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters made of aluminium nitride (AlN) thin films on various types of Si wafers. AlN films with (00.2) orientation were deposited by RF reactive sputtering of an Al target in Ar and N(2) admixtures on Si(100) and (111) wafers with resistivities ranging between 10 and 2000 Omega cm. The electroacoustic response of SAW filters with an acoustic wavelength of 40 microm was analysed by measuring the Sij parameters with a network analyser. We have determined that the out-of-band loss is directly related to the Si substrate resistivity, varying from 26 dB for 10 Omega cm to 55 dB for 2000 Omega cm. The SAW velocity depends on the orientation of the Si wafer, being approximately 4700 m/s for Si(111) and 5100 m/s for Si(100). The electroacoustic responses of the SAW filters were fitted by computations based on a simple circuital model that takes into account parasitic effects such as airborne electromagnetic coupling and conduction through the substrate. This procedure provides accurate values of the electromechanical coupling factor k2 even for devices with poor characteristics. Good quality SAW filters of AlN on high resistivity Si(100) wafers with k2 larger than 0.12% are demonstrated.     

Growth of high-quality ZnO thin films on (11\bar{2}0) a-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

High-quality ZnO thin films were grown on a-plane sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy reveal that the ZnO films have high structural quality and an atomically sharp ZnO/Al₂O₃ interface. The full width at half maximum values of the 0002 and $30\bar{3}2$ ZnO ω-rocking curves are 467.8 and 813.5 arc sec for a 600 nm thick ZnO film. A screw dislocation density of 4.35×10⁸ cm^?2 and an edge dislocation density of 3.38×10⁹ cm^?2 are estimated by X-ray diffraction. The surface of the ZnO epilayers contains hexagonal pits, which can be observed in the Zn-polar ZnO. The films have a resistivity of 0.119 Ω?cm, an electron concentration of 6.85×10¹⁷ cm^?3, and a mobility of 76.5 cm²?V^?1?s^?1 at room temperature. Low temperature photoluminescence measurements show good optical properties comparable to ZnO single crystals.     

Temperature dependence of the interaction between surface acoustic waves and nickel thin films

Measurements of the magnetic-field-dependent attenuation of 618-MHz surface acoustic waves by a 500-Å nickel film, made over the temperature range 4–350 K, are reported. Some room-temperature hysteresis-dependent interactions are also described.     

Simulation of a stress-strain state in thin structured gallium nitride films on sapphire substrates

The stress-strain state in thin structured gallium nitride films on sapphire substrates containing open pores has been simulated. The results have been obtained by the finite element method in the commercial program complex. The stress intensity factor K _I has been calculated for the model considering a crack at the GaN/sapphire interface near an open pore. Based on the calculations of elastic fields, the redistribution of stresses by a structure with an ordered array of open pores in gallium nitride films has been estimated.     

Y旋转切割石英基片上的准纵漏表面声波

在理论和实验上对Y旋转切割石英基片上的准纵漏表面声波(快速声表面波)的传播特性作了比较全面的研究。准纵漏表面声波的相速度可以达到6200m/s~7100m/s,是常规声表面波相速度的两倍,接近纵波速度。理论计算和实验结果均表明:在Y旋转切割石英基片的某些传播方向上,准纵漏表面声波的束偏向角和延迟温度系数均较小。例如,沿欧拉角(0°,155.25°,42°)方向的准纵漏表面声波的相速度和延迟温度系数的实验测量值分别为6201m/s和12.9 ppm/℃。实验还表明,放置于基片表面的液体对准纵漏表面声波的吸收不大,说明此种声波质点振动集中在传播方向(沿表面方向),具有纵波的性质。     

Angular dependence of the photothermally modulated magnetic resonance in Gd thin films

In this paper we use electron spin resonance and photothermally modulated magnetic resonance techniques to investigate gadolinium thin films as a function of the orientation of the film surface with respect to the external magnetic field and of the temperature, around the magnetic phase transition temperature. We observe that, in the ferromagnetic phase, the resonance line is shifted up to higher external magnetic fields when the angle between the film surface and the field increases, revealing the magnetic anisotropy of the sample. At the same time, when the temperature is augmented to values higher than the phase transition temperature, the external field of the resonance collapses back to the expected value in the paramagnetic phase for all orientations. We also demonstrated that, even for the perpendicular orientation (magnetic field perpendicular to the sample surface), the photothermally modulated magnetic resonance signal is maximized near the magnetic phase transition temperature. Furthermore, in the ferromagnetic phase the photothermally modulated magnetic resonance intensity is very sensitive to the orientation, showing a significant enhancement in the perpendicular direction.     

基于AlN声表面波滤波传感器器件的有限元仿真

声表面波器件是一种利用压电材料的压电效应与逆压电效应工作电子器件, 文章首先详细描述了声表面波器件的设计与仿真过程,运用有限元分析的方法分别计算了利用声表面波的 SAW 器件与利用体波的 BAW 器件的性能与各项参数,对相关的器件进行了计算分析,分别用上述方法研究了基于 AlN 薄膜的声表面波器件和悬臂梁结构的体波器件,推导得出了器件的电学导纳与频率之间的关系, 通过分析器件的导纳-频率曲线,推导出器件内部声波的模式以及合适的工作频率,最终得出在 IDT 周期为 8 微米的情况下,SAW 器件的理想工作频率是 0.7-1.95GHz,BAW 器件的理想工作频率在 0.6-3.2GHz 的结果。     

Angular and frequency dependence of light diffracted by surface acoustic waves

The intensity of light diffracted by surface acoustic waves is described by its spectrum, which contains all the harmonics of the acoustic frequency. A formulation is given, mainly for the first harmonic angular dependence, taking into account most of the experimental parameters. Calculated results are compared with experimental data. Optimum conditions for detection are given for a wide range of frequencies.     

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...     

Investigation of AlN growth on sapphire substrates in a horizontal MOVPE reactor

AlN growth was performed on c-plane sapphire substrates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) using trimethylaluminium (TMAl) and ammonia. The influence of the carrier gases H₂ and N₂ and their mixtures on the surface morphology and structural characteristics was investigated as well as the influence of the growth temperature of the total source partial pressure and of the TMAl substrate pretreatment. It was found that smoother layers and better structural characteristics are obtained for lower source partial pressures. Decreasing of growth temperature led to improvement of surface morphology, and increasing of nitrogen in gas phase led to improvement structural quality of the layer. A pretreatment of the substrate leads to rougher layers.     

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.     

Optical characteristics of thin rutile films on fused quartz substrates

Polycrystalline rutile films are synthesized on fused quartz substrates by the method of thermal oxidation of a titanium metal layer in air at 800°C. The optical parameters of the TiO ₂ films are determined for a wavelength of λ = 0.6328 μm by the method of laser zero ellipsometry. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 15–20, May, 2006.