Preparation of AlN film grown on sputter-deposited and annealed AlN buffer layer via HVPE

AlN films grown on sputter-deposited and annealed AlN buffer layer by high temperature hydride vapor phase epitaxy(HVPE)have been fabricated and structurally characterized.The crystalline quality and surface morphology of as-grown AlN films with various V/III ratios were studied and compared.The XRD results showed that the crystalline quality of the AlN film could be optimized when the growth V/III ratio was 150.At the same time,the full width at half-maximum(FWHM)values of(0002)-and(10ˉ12)-plane were 64 arcsec and 648 arcsec,respectively.As revealed by AFM,the AlN films grown with higher V/III ratios of 150 and 300 exhibited apparent hillock-like surface structure due to the low density of screw threading dislocation(TD).The defects microstructure and strain field around the HVPE-AlN/sputtered-AlN/sapphire interfaces have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy(TEM)technique combined with geometric phase analysis(GPA).It was found that the screw TDs within AlN films intend to turn into loops or half-loops after originating from the AlN/sapphire interface,while the edge ones would bend first and then reacted with others within a region of 400 nm above the interface.Consequently,part of the edge TDs propagated to the surface vertically.The GPA analysis indicated that the voids extending from sapphire to HVPE-AlN layer were beneficial to relax the interfacial strain of the best quality AlN film grown with a V/III ratio of 150.     

Porous AlN films grown on C-face SiC by hydride vapor phase epitaxy

We report the growth of porous AlN films on C-face SiC substrates by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). The influences of growth condition on surface morphology, residual strain and crystalline quality of AlN films have been investigated. With the increase of the V/III ratio, the growth mode of AlN grown on C-face 6H-SiC substrates changes from step-flow to pit-hole morphology. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman analysis show that cracks appear due to tensile stress in the films with the lowest V/III ratio and the highest V/III ratio with a thickness of about 3 μm. In contrast, under the medium V/III ratio growth condition, the porous film can be obtained. Even when the thickness of the porous AlN film is further increased to 8 μm, the film remains porous and crack-free, and the crystal quality is improved.