Effect of Nitrogen and Aluminum Doping on 3C-SiC Heteroepitaxial Layers Grown on 4° Off-Axis Si (100)

This work provides a comprehensive investigation of nitrogen and aluminum doping and its consequences for the physical properties of 3C-SiC. Free-standing 3C-SiC heteroepitaxial layers, intentionally doped with nitrogen or aluminum, were grown on Si (100) substrate with different 4° off-axis in a horizontal hot-wall chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor. The Si substrate was melted inside the CVD chamber, followed by the growth process. Micro-Raman, photoluminescence (PL) and stacking fault evaluation through molten KOH etching were performed on different doped samples. Then, the role of the doping and of the cut angle on the quality, density and length distribution of the stacking faults was studied, in order to estimate the influence of N and Al incorporation on the morphological and optical properties of the material. In particular, for both types of doping, it was observed that as the dopant concentration increased, the average length of the stacking faults (SFs) increased and their density decreased.

ВЛИЯНИЕ ТВЕРДОФАЗНОЙ РЕКРИСТАЛЛИЗАЦИИ С ДВОЙНОЙ ИМПЛАНТАЦИЕЙ НА ПЛОТНОСТЬ СТРУКТУРНЫХ ДЕФЕКТОВ В УЛЬТРАТОНКИХ СЛОЯХ КРЕМНИЯ НА САПФИРЕ

Высокая плотность структурных дефектов является основной проблемой при изготовлении электроники на гетероструктурах «кремний на сапфире» (КНС). Современный метод получения ультратонких структур КНС с помощью твердофазной эпитаксиальной рекристаллизации позволяет значительно снизить дефектность в гетероэпитаксиальном слое КНС. В данной работе ультратонкие (100 нм) слои КНС были получены путем рекристаллизации и утонения субмикронных (300 нм) слоев кремния на сапфире, обладающих различным структурным качеством. Плотность структурных дефектов в слоях КНС оценивалась с помощью рентгеноструктурного анализа и просвечивающей электронной микроскопии. Кривые качания от дифракционного отражения Si(400), полученные в ω-геометрии, продемонстрировали максимальную ширину на полувысоте пика не более 0,19-0,20° для ультратонких слоев КНС толщиной 100 нм. Формирование структурно совершенного субмикронного слоя КНС 300 нм на этапе газофазной эпитаксии обеспечивает существенное уменьшение плотности дислокаций в ультратонком кремнии на сапфире до значений ~1 • 104 см-1. Тестовые n-канальные МОП-транзисторы на ультратонких структурах КНС характеризовались подвижностью носителей в канале 725 см2 Вс-1. The high density of structural defects is the main problem on the way to the production of electronics on silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) heteroepitaxial wafers. The modern method of obtaining ultrathin SOS wafers is solid-phase epitaxial recrystallization which can significantly reduce the density of defects in the SOS heteroepitaxial layers. In the current work, ultrathin (100 nm) SOS layers were obtained by recrystallization and thinning of submicron (300 nm) SOS layers, which have various structural quality. The density of structural defects in the layers was estimated by using XRD and TEM. Full width at half maximum of rocking curves (ω-geometry) was no more than 0.19-0.20° for 100 nm ultra-thin SOS layers. The structural quality of 300 nm submicron SOS layers, which were obtained by CVD, depends on dislocation density in 100 nm ultrathin layers. The dislocation density in ultrathin SOS layers was reduced by ~1 • 104 cm-1 due to the utilization of the submicron SOS with good crystal quality. Test n-channel MOS transistors based on ultra-thin SOS wafers were characterized by electron mobility in the channel 725 cm2 V-1 s-1.

Hydrogen peroxide synthesis from water and oxygen using a three-component nanohybrid photocatalyst consisting of Au particle-loaded rutile TiO2 and RuO2 with a heteroepitaxial junction

Thin heteroepitaxial layers of RuO2 were formed on the TiO2 surface of Au nanoparticle-loaded rutile TiO2, and this three-component nanohybrid exhibits a high photocatalytic activity for hydrogen peroxide generation from water and oxygen.

Growing of heteroepitaxial layers on lattice mismatched substrates by the method of scanning liquid phase epitaxy

Heterostructures with lattice mismatched and compositionally different layers are widely used in modern electronic and optoelectronic device engineering. Generally such structures are manufactured by the methods of metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and molecular-beam epitaxy. However, the methods of deposition from a liquid phase are the most inexpensive and simple yet. Thus obtaining the above mentioned heterostructures from a liquid phase is still promising. In this work we demonstrated the possibility of using the method of scanning liquid phase epitaxy to grow continuous heteroepitaxial layers over the substrate surface highly mismatched by lattice constant and having different crystal-chemical properties. By controlling basic parameters of the method we created the conditions close to the solution-melt saturation limit. In other words, we created the conditions of ultra-fast solution-melt cooling and, respectively, high growth rate. We obtained the heterostructures of Ge layers grown on GaP substrates where the lattice mismatch made 3.7%. Gallium was used as the solvent for Germanium. The heterostructure was grown by the method of scanning liquid phase epitaxy in the conditions of ultra-fast initial cooling of the solution-melt. Overcooling at the crystallization front was controlled by an extra heater of the substrate back side. The growing time was 1 and 20 seconds for the two test samples. The layers thickness was determined by the spherical slice technique to be 1.2 and 1.5 μm for these two growing time values, accordingly. We showed that it was possible to obtain more perfect Ge layers on GaP substrate by lowering the growth rate in the final growth stage. This method can be used to grow heterostructures used in creating such modern electronic and optoelectronic devices as structures based on А3В5 compounds and their solid solutions, which cannot be obtained by other classical methods of liquid phase epitaxy due to significant differences in lattice constants and / or crystal-chemical properties.

Al5+αSi5+δN12, a new Nitride compound

The family of III-Nitride semiconductors has been under intensive research for almost 30 years and has revolutionized lighting applications at the dawn of the 21st century. However, besides the developments and applications achieved, nitride alloys continue to fuel the quest for novel materials and applications. We report on the synthesis of a new nitride-based compound by using annealing of AlN heteroepitaxial layers under a Si-atmosphere at temperatures between 1350 °C and 1550 °C. The structure and stoichiometry of this compound are investigated by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques and energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Results are supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The identified structure is a derivative of the parent wurtzite AlN crystal where the anion sublattice is fully occupied by N atoms and the cation sublattice is the stacking of 2 different planes along <0001>: The first one exhibits a ×3 periodicity along <11–20> with 1/3 of the sites being vacant. The rest of the sites in the cation sublattice are occupied by an equal number of Si and Al atoms. Assuming a semiconducting alloy, a range of stoichiometries is proposed, Al5+αSi5+δN12 with α being between −2/3 and 1/4 and δ between 0 and 3/4.

Germanium Incorporation in Silicon Carbide Epitaxial Layers Using Molecular Beam Epitaxy on 4H-SiC Substrates

Ternary (Si1-xCy)Gex+y solid solutions were grown on Si-face 4H-SiC applying atomic layer molecular beam epitaxy at low temperatures. The grown layers consist of twinned 3C-SiC revealed by cross section electron microscopy. The germanium was incorporated on silicon lattice sites as revealed by atomic location by channeling enhanced microanalysis transmission electron microscopy studies. The Ge concentration of the grown 3C-(Si1-xCy)Gex+y heteroepitaxial layers decreases with increasing growth temperatures, but exceeds the solid solubility limit.