Epitaxial GaN Layer Growth Using Nitrogen Enriched TiN Buffer Layers

2006 ◽  
Vol 916 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Ito ◽  
Yu Uchida ◽  
Sang-jin Lee ◽  
Susumu Tsukimoto ◽  
Yuhei Ikemoto ◽  
...  

AbstractAbout 20 years ago, the discovery of an AlN buffer layer lead to the breakthrough in epitaxial growth of GaN layers with mirror-like surface, using a metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique on sapphire substrates. Since then, extensive efforts have been continued to develop a conductive buffer layer/substrate for MOCVD-grown GaN layers to improve light emission of GaN light-emitting diodes. In the present study, we produced MOCVD-grown, continuous, flat epitaxial GaN layers on nitrogen enriched TiN buffer layers with the upper limit of the nitrogen content of TiN deposited at room temperature (RT) on sapphire substrates. It was concluded that the nitrogen enrichment would reduce significantly the TiN/GaN interfacial energy. The RT deposition of the TiN buffer layers suppresses their grain growth during the nitrogen enrichment and the grain size refining must increase nucleation site of GaN. In addition, threading dislocation density in the GaN layers grown on TiN was much lower than that in the GaN layers grown on AlN.

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (S2) ◽  
pp. 330-331
Author(s):  
B. Shea ◽  
Q. Sun-Paduano ◽  
D. F. Bliss ◽  
M. C. Callahan ◽  
C. Sung

Interest in wide band gap III-V nitride semiconductor devices is increasing for optoelectronic and microelectronic device applications. to ensure the highest quality, TEM analysis can characterize the substrate and buffer layer interface. Measurements taken by TEM reveal the density of dislocations/cm2 and the orientation of Burger's vectors. This information allows for changes to be made in deposition rates, temperatures, gas flow rates, and other parameters during the processing.The GaN/sapphire samples grown at AFRL were produced in two consecutive steps, first to provide a thin buffer layer, and the other to grow a lum thick epitaxial film. Both growth steps were prepared using metallic organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) in a vertical reactor. Buffer layers were prepared using a range of temperatures from 525 to 535°C and with a range of flow rates and pressures in order to optimize the nucleation conditions for the epitaxial films.


1997 ◽  
Vol 484 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Chen ◽  
J. S. Ahearn ◽  
K. Nichols ◽  
P. Uppal ◽  
D. C. Paine

AbstractWe report on a TEM study of Sb-adjusted quaternary Al0.5Ga0.5As1-y Sby buffer-layers grown on <001> GaAs substrates. A series of structures were grown by MBE at 470°C that utilize a multilayer grading scheme in which the Sb content of Al0.5Ga0.5As1-ySby is successively increased in a series of eight 125 nm thick layers. Post growth analysis using conventional bright field and weak beam dark field imaging of these buffer layers in cross-section reveals that the interface misfit dislocations are primarily of the 60° type and are distributed through out the interfaces of the buffer layer. Plan view studies show that the threading dislocation density in the active regions of the structure (approximately 2 μm from the GaAs substrate) is 105–6/cm2 which is comparable to equivalent InxGa1−x As buffers. Weak Sb-As compositional modulations with a period of 1.8 nm were observed that provide a marker for establishing the planarity of the growth process. These features reveal that the growth surface remains planar through out the buffer layer growth sequence.


2004 ◽  
Vol 831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seiji Mita ◽  
Ramon Collazo ◽  
Raoul Schlesser ◽  
Zlatko Sitar

ABSTRACTThe polarity control of GaN films grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by low pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) was achieved by using N2 as a diluent and transport gas. The type of polarity was governed by the substrate treatment prior to the GaN growth. N-face (-c) GaN films were only obtained by pre-nitridation of the sapphire substrate after a H2 anneal, while Ga-face (+c) GaN films were grown directly on the substrates or on properly annealed AlN buffer layers. In addition, GaN films on improperly annealed AlN buffer layers, that is, under- or over-annealed buffer layers, yielded films with mixed polarity. Smooth N-face GaN films with 2.5 nm RMS roughness, as determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM), were obtained with shorter nitridation times (less than 2 min). Wet chemical etching in an aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) was used to determine the polarity type.


1991 ◽  
Vol 240 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Biefeld ◽  
T. J. Drummond

ABSTRACTDislocation formation in InAs1−xSbx buffer layers grown on InSb substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition is shown to be reproducibly enhanced by p-type doping at levels exceeding the intrinsic carrier concentration at the growth temperature. To achieve a carrier concentration greater than 2 × 1018 cm−3, the intrinsic carrier concentration of InSb at 475 C, p-type doping with diethylzinc was used. Carrier concentrations up to 6 × 1018 cm−3 were obtained. The zinc doped buffer layers have proven to be reproducibly crack free for InAs1−xSbx step graded buffer layers with a final composition of x = 0.12 lattice matched to a strained layer superlattice (SLS) with an average composition of x = 0.09. These structures have been used to prepare infrared photodiodes. Details of the buffer layer growth, an explanation for the observed Fermi level effect and the growth and characterization of an infrared photodiode are discussed.


Author(s):  
Y. Shi ◽  
B. Liu ◽  
Lianghong Liu ◽  
J.H. Edgar ◽  
E.A. Payzant ◽  
...  

Single crystalline platelets of aluminum nitride (AlN) were successfully grown by a new technique. It consists of (1) depositing an AlN buffer layer on a SiC substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) below 1100°C, (2) forming an (AlN)x(SiC)1−x alloy film on the AlN film by condensing vapors sublimated at a temperature of 1800°C from a source mixture of AlN-SiC powders, followed by (3) condensing vapors sublimated from a pure AlN source (at 1800°C). The necessity of the first two steps for the successful AlN sublimation growth on SiC substrate was illustrated by the initial nucleation studies of alloys on SiC substrates with and without MOCVD AlN buffer layers: an AlN MOCVD buffer layer leads to continuous, single grain growth mode; The (AlN)x(SiC)1−x alloy film reduces the crack density because its thermal expansion coefficient is intermediate between SiC and AlN. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy studies indicated the high quality of the AlN single crystal.


Author(s):  
Jason R. Heffelfinger ◽  
C. Barry Carter

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is currently used in a variety of applications including oxygen sensors, fuel cells, coatings for semiconductor lasers, and buffer layers for high-temperature superconducting films. Thin films of YSZ have been grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, electrochemical vapor deposition, pulse-laser deposition (PLD), electron-beam evaporation, and sputtering. In this investigation, PLD was used to grow thin films of YSZ on (100) MgO substrates. This system proves to be an interesting example of relationships between interfaces and extrinsic dislocations in thin films of YSZ.In this experiment, a freshly cleaved (100) MgO substrate surface was prepared for deposition by cleaving a lmm-thick slice from a single-crystal MgO cube. The YSZ target material which contained 10mol% yttria was prepared from powders and sintered to 85% of theoretical density. The laser system used for the depositions was a Lambda Physik 210i excimer laser operating with KrF (λ=248nm, 1Hz repetition rate, average energy per pulse of 100mJ).


Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 611
Author(s):  
Waldemar Gawron ◽  
Jan Sobieski ◽  
Tetiana Manyk ◽  
Małgorzata Kopytko ◽  
Paweł Madejczyk ◽  
...  

This paper presents the current status of medium-wave infrared (MWIR) detectors at the Military University of Technology’s Institute of Applied Physics and VIGO System S.A. The metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique is a very convenient tool for the deposition of HgCdTe epilayers, with a wide range of compositions, used for uncooled infrared detectors. Good compositional and thickness uniformity was achieved on epilayers grown on 2-in-diameter, low-cost (100) GaAs wafers. Most growth was performed on substrates, which were misoriented from (100) by between 2° and 4° in order to minimize growth defects. The large lattice mismatch between GaAs and HgCdTe required the usage of a CdTe buffer layer. The CdTe (111) B buffer layer growth was enforced by suitable nucleation procedure, based on (100) GaAs substrate annealing in a Te-rich atmosphere prior to the buffer deposition. Secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) showed that ethyl iodide (EI) and tris(dimethylamino)arsenic (TDMAAs) were stable donor and acceptor dopants, respectively. Fully doped (111) HgCdTe heterostructures were grown in order to investigate the devices’ performance in the 3–5 µm infrared band. The uniqueness of the presented technology manifests in a lack of the necessity of time-consuming and troublesome ex situ annealing.


2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (03n04) ◽  
pp. 1520009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tedi Kujofsa ◽  
John E. Ayers

The inclusion of metamorphic buffer layers (MBL) in the design of lattice-mismatched semiconductor heterostructures is important in enhancing reliability and performance of optical and electronic devices. These metamorphic buffer layers usually employ linear grading of composition, and materials including InxGa1-xAs and GaAs1-yPy have been used. Non-uniform and continuously graded profiles are beneficial for the design of partially-relaxed buffer layers because they reduce the threading dislocation density by allowing the distribution of the misfit dislocations throughout the metamorphic buffer layer, rather than concentrating them at the interface where substrate defects and tangling can pin dislocations or otherwise reduce their mobility as in the case of uniform compositional growth. In this work we considered heterostructures involving a linearly-graded (type A) or step-graded (type B) buffer layer grown on a GaAs (001) substrate. For each structure type we present minimum energy calculations and compare the cases of cation (Group III) and anion (Group V) grading. In addition, we studied the (i) average and surface in-plane strain and (ii) average misfit dislocation density for heterostructures with various thickness and compositional profile. Moreover, we show that differences in the elastic stiffness constants give rise to significantly different behavior in these two commonly-used buffer layer systems.


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