High resolution X-ray diffraction of GaN grown on Si (1 1 1) by MOVPE

High temperature GaN layers have been grown on Si (1 1 1) substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). AlN was used as a buffer layer and studied as a function of thickness and growth temperature. The growth was monitored by in situ laser reflectometry. High resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) revealed that optimized monocrystalline GaN was obtained for a 40 nm AlN grown at 1080 °C. This is in good agreement with the results of morphological study by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and also confirmed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations. The best morphology of AlN with columnar structure and lower rms surface roughness is greatly advantageous to the coalescence of the GaN epilayer. Symmetric and asymmetric GaN reflections were combined for twist and stress measurements in monocrystalline GaN. It was found that mosaicity and biaxial tensile stress are still high in 1.7 μm GaN. Curvature radius measurement was also done and correlated to the cracks observations over the GaN surface.     

Effects of composition grading at heterointefaces and layer thickness variations on Bragg mirror quality

GaAs/AlAs Bragg mirrors on GaAs with varied number of layer pairs were grown, by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), to be applied for semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) and intensity modulators. Due to the random variation of the growth rate, substrate surface roughness, and interdiffusion at the interfaces, precise control of the growth conditions of deposited layers poses a serious problem. Usually, thickness variations and composition grading at the heterointefaces result in variations of the mirror reflectivity. In this paper, the high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), optical reflectance, Rutherford backscattering/channelling (RBS), supported by numerical evaluation methods were employed to determine both the exact thickness of each layer and the composition grading at the interface between succeeding layers of GaAs/AlAs-based mirrors. To reduce ambiguity and to speed up the analysis, the rocking curves and RBS spectra were simulated concurrently, using results of one simulation to verify the others. This process was carried out until the best fit between experimental and calculated curves was achieved. The complementary use of both methods results in improved sensitivity and makes the whole process of evaluation of the thickness variation of each layer and the size of the composition grading at the interfaces less time consuming.     

Role of gallium wetting layer in high-quality ZnO growth on sapphire (0001) substrates

ZnO is a wide direct bandgap (Eg=3.37 eV at room temperature) II-VI compound semiconductor of wurtzite structure (a = 3.249 ? c = 5.207 ?. Compared to GaN and ZnS, ZnO has a larger exciton binding energy, ~60 meV (cf. ~25 meV for GaN and ~40 meV for ZnS), which is advantageous to realizing low-threshold excitonic lasers. Since optically pumped UV lasing of ZnO at room temperature was reported in 1997[1], much attention has been paid to the crystal quality improvement and p-type conduc…     

GaN薄膜中的马赛克结构随厚度发生的变化

利用高分辨率X射线衍射(HRXRD)对MOCVD系统中生长在c面Al₂O₃上的不 同厚度的GaN薄膜内马赛克结构进行了研究. 在对称面的三轴X射线衍射曲线中, 用两种方法计算得到晶粒的垂直关联长度和水平关联长度, 两者均随着薄膜厚度的增加而增加, 并且垂直关联长度近似膜厚从倒易空间图中得出的横向关联长度也有相同的趋势, 结合非对称面的衍射曲线用Williamson-Hall方法和外推法分 别拟合出晶粒的面外倾斜角和面内扭转角, 他们随着薄膜厚度的增加显著减少, 这一切都表明厚度的增加, 晶粒的单向有序排列越来越整齐, 外延片的质量越来越高. 关键词： GaN薄膜马赛克结构 厚度 HRXRD     

Strain modification of AlGaN layers using swift heavy ions

Epitaxial AlGaN/GaN layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on SiC substrates were irradiated with 150 MeV Ag ions at a fluence of 5×10¹² ions/cm². The samples used in this study are 50 nm Al_0.2Ga_0.8N/1 nm AlN/1 μ m GaN/0.1 μ m AlN grown on SI 4H-SiC. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry/channeling strain measurements were carried out on off-normal axis of irradiated and unirradiated samples. In an as-grown sample, AlGaN layer is partially relaxed with a small tensile strain. After irradiation, this strain increases by 0.22% in AlGaN layer. Incident ion energy dependence of dechanneling parameter shows E ^1/2 dependence, which corresponds to the dislocations. Defect densities were calculated from the E ^1/2 graph. As a result of irradiation, the defect density increased on both GaN and AlGaN layers. The effect of irradiation induced-damages are analyzed as a function of material properties. Observed results from different characterization techniques such as RBS/channeling, high-resolution XRD and AFM are compared and complemented with each other to deduce the information. Possible mechanisms responsible for the observations have been discussed in detail.     

Heteroepitaxial growth of thin InAs layers on GaAs(1 0 0) misoriented substrates: A structural and morphological comparison

Thin InAs epilayers were grown on GaAs(1 0 0) substrates exactly oriented and misoriented toward [1 1 1]A direction by atmospheric pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. InAs growth was monitored by in situ spectral reflectivity. Structural quality of InAs layers were studied by using high-resolution X-ray diffraction. No crystallographic tilting of the layers with respect to any kind of these substrates was found for all thicknesses. This result is discussed in terms of In-rich growth environment. InAs layers grown on 2° misoriented substrate provide an improved crystalline quality. Surface roughness of InAs layers depend on layer thickness and substrate misorientation.     

Interdiffusion phenomena in InGaAs/GaAs superlattice structures

We have studied structural properties of InGaAs/GaAs superlattice sample prepared by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) using high resolution X‐ray diffractometer (HRXRD). Increasing strain relaxation and defect generations are observed with the increasing Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) temperature up to 775 °C. The higher temperatures bring out relaxation mechanisms; interdiffusion and favored migration. The defect structure and the defects which are observed with the increasing annealing temperature were analyzed. Firstly, the in‐plane and out‐of‐plane strains after the annealing of sample were found. Secondly, the structural defect properties such as the parallel X‐ray strain, perpendicular X‐ray strain, misfit, degree of relaxation, x composition, tilt angles and dislocation that are obtained from X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were carried out at every temperature. As a result, we observed that the asymmetric peaks especially in asymmetric (224) plane was affected more than symmetric and asymmetric planes with lower polar or inclination angles due to c‐direction at low temperature. These structural properties exhibit different unfavorable behaviors for every reflection direction at the increasing temperatures. The reason is the relaxation which is caused by spatially inhomogeneous strain distribution with the increasing annealing temperature. In the InGaAs superlattice samples, this process enhances preferential migration of In atoms along the growth direction. Further increase in the annealing temperature leads to the deterioration of the abrupt interfaces in the superlattice and degradation in its structural properties. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Effect of bismuth on liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) grown GaAs layer using Ga–As–Bi melt

GaAs epitaxial layers of high structural quality have been realised from Ga–As–Bi melt using liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE). LPE grown GaAs epitaxial layer using bismuth solvent on GaAs substrate has been found to be of good structural perfection as compared to layers using gallium solvent. The temperature-dependent PL spectra of GaAs layer, grown from Ga+Bi mixed solvent has shown that the use of bismuth does not change the band energy. ECV depth profile of heavily zinc-doped epitaxial layer shows uniform doping in the GaAs layer grown using gallium solvent as compared to the layer grown using bismuth solvent.     

HigHighly strained InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells emitting beyond 1.2 µm

Highly strained In_xGa_1–xAs quantum wells (QWs) with GaAs barriers emitting around 1.2 µm are grown on GaAs substrates by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE) at low growth temperatures using conventional precursors. The effects of growth temperature, V/III ratio and growth rate on QW composition and luminescence properties are studied. The variation of indium incorporation with V/III ratio at a growth temperature of 510 °C is found to be opposite to the results reported for 700 °C. By an appropriate choice of the growth parameters, we could extend the room temperature photoluminescence (PL) wavelength of InGaAs/GaAs QWs up to about 1.24 µm which corresponds to an average indium content of 41% in the QW. The results of the growth study were applied to broad area laser diodes emitting at 1193 nm with low threshold current densities. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Growth and characterization of a new organic nonlinear optical crystal: Vanillylideneaniline

Vanillylideneaniline with chemical formula C₁₄H₁₃NO₂ (VAN), a second order nonlinear optical (SONLO) organic single crystal was synthesized and grown for the first time from dimethyl formamide (DMF) employing slow solvent evaporation technique. Single crystal X-ray diffraction data reveals that the crystal belongs to noncentrosymmetric orthorhombic space group C222₁. The high-resolution diffraction curve containing single peak with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 62 arc s ascertains VAN was perfectly crystallized and free from structural grain boundaries. The formation of the material was confirmed quantitatively by FTIR, ₁H¹ and ¹³C NMR spectral analyses. The UV–vis–NIR spectrum reveals the percentage of the transmission of VAN crystal in the entire region. The variations of dielectric constant (?_r) and dielectric loss (D) with frequency at different temperatures were investigated. The SHG of VAN crystal is confirmed by Kurtz Powder technique. The mechanical strength of the crystal was estimated by Vickers hardness test. VAN has yield strength of 8.70 MPa. Thus the grown organic VAN single crystal can be recommended as a promising candidate for SONLO application and device fabrication technology.