Quantitative Analysis of the Recovery Process in Pure Iron Using X-ray Diffraction Line Profile Analysis

We conducted quantitative analysis of the recovery process during pure iron annealing using the modified Williamson-Hall and Warren-Averbach methods. We prepared four types of specimens with different dislocation substructures. By increasing the annealing temperature, we confirmed a decrease in dislocation density. In particular, screw-dislocation density substantially decreased in the early stage of the recovery process, while edge-dislocation density gradually decreased as annealing temperature increased. Moreover, changes in hardness during the recovery process mainly depended on edge-dislocation density. Increases in annealing temperature weakly affected the dislocation arrangement parameter and crystallite size. Recovery-process modeling demonstrated that the decrease in screw-dislocation density during the recovery process was mainly dominated by glide and/or cross-slip with dislocation core diffusion. In contrast, the decrease in edge-dislocation density during the recovery process was governed by a climbing motion with both dislocation core diffusion and lattice self-diffusion. From the above results, we succeeded in quantitatively distinguishing between edge- and screw-dislocation density during the recovery process, which are difficult to distinguish using transmission electron microscope and electron backscatter diffraction.

High Temperature Annealing SP-AlN Ameliorates the Crystal Quality ofAl0.5Ga0.5N Regrowth

In this study, the effect of a high-temperature annealing process on AlN is investigated. The high-temperature annealing process reduces the screw dislocation density of the AlN film to 2.1x107 cm-2. The AlN surface is highly flat. Through HRXRD and Raman spectroscopy, the stress mode changes in the sputtered AlN film before and after high-temperature annealing were studied in depth. Based on the HTA-AlN template, a high-quality, high-Al composition AlGaN epitaxial wafer, with a (0002) plane rocking curve FWHM of 246 arcsec , was prepared at 1080°C The growth mode of AlGaN grown directly on the AlN template at low temperature is summarized.

Study of Edge and Screw Dislocation Density in GaN/Al2O3 Heterostructure

This study assesses the characteristics (edge and screw dislocation density) of a commercially available GaN/AlN/Al2O3 wafer. The heterostructure was evaluated by means of high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and Doppler-Broadening Spectroscopy (DBS). The results were mathematically modeled to extract defect densities and defect correlation lengths in the GaN film. The structure of the GaN film, AlN buffer, Al2O3 substrate and their growth relationships were determined through HR-TEM. DBS studies were used to determine the effective positron diffusion length of the GaN film. Within the epitaxial layers, defined by a [GaN P 63 m c (0 0 0 2) || P 63 m c AlN (0 0 0 2) || (0 0 0 2) R 3 ¯ c Al2O3] relationship, regarding the GaN film, a strong correlation between defect densities, defect correlation lengths, and positron diffusion length was assessed. The defect densities ρ d e = 6.13 × 1010 cm−2, ρ d s = 1.36 × 1010 cm−2, along with the defect correlation lengths Le = 155 nm and Ls = 229 nm found in the 289 nm layer of GaN, account for the effective positron diffusion length Leff~60 nm.

150 mm 4H-SiC Substrate with Low Defect Density

150 mm diameter 4H-SiC boules were grown by the physical vapor transport (PVT) method. Synchrotron white beam X-ray topography (SWBXT) was carried out to investigate the distribution of defects in axial slices cut from the boule. It was found that an increase of dislocations and micropipes was mainly induced by inclusions. After eliminating these inclusions, which were formed in the mid to late stage of the crystal growth, both the screw dislocation density and base plane dislocation density could be decreased down to a magnitude of 102 cm-2, which is comparable to that of high quality 100 mm diameter SiC substrates.

AlN Periodic Multiple-layer Structures Grown by MOVPE for High Quality Buffer Layer

High crystal quality crack-free AlN on sapphire was grown by low pressure metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). Growth experiments combine two recent approaches: the ammonia pulse-flow method and ammonia continuous-flow growth mode by varying the V/III ratio. The detailed aspects of MOVPE, employing the periodic multilayer approach at low, intermediate, and high temperatures are described. This method yields significant reduction of screw dislocation density and provides very smooth surface for thin AlN layers.

Characterization of Porous SiC Substrates and of the Epilayer Structures Grown on Them

ABSTRACTPorous 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC wafers formed by anodization have been characterized in this study prior to and following the CVD deposition of SiC epitaxial layers, using a combination of synchrotron white beam x-ray topography (SWBXT), SEM, TEM and optical microscopy. Under the high temperatures employed during epitaxial growth, a significant change in pore morphology occurs. While no evidence of reduced screw dislocation density in the epilayers is obtained, a small tilt of the epilayers with respect to the porous substrate observed on x-ray topographs could play a role in limiting penetration of defects from the substrate.

The Effect of Surface Finish on the Dislocation Density in Sublimation grown SiC Layers

ABSTRACTThe effect of the seed surface finish on the dislocation density of sublimation grown silicon carbide was investigated. Growth on seeds that were polished down to 1 μm diamond paste resulted in the nucleation of threading screw dislocations in a density of 106 cm−2 and threading edge dislocations in densities of 107 cm−2. Following the mechanical polish of the seeds with a hydrogen etch or chemo-mechanical polish prior to growth resulted in the screw dislocation density decreasing by four orders of magnitude and the threading edge dislocation density dropping two orders of magnitude. Using the dislocations density and the hydrogen etch rate, the depth of damage in mechanically damaged seeds was determined to be between 400 and 1000 Å.

The Use of AlN Interlayers to Improve GaN Growth on A-Plane Sapphire

The lack of a suitable, lattice matched substrate for the growth of the group III nitrides typically restricts GaN film growth to substrates such as sapphire or SiC, despite the large lattice and thermal mismatch. With the use of AlN or GaN nucleation layers (NL), GaN films of sufficient quality have been produced for blue LEDs. However, for laser and large-area microwave device applications, the large number of dislocations (> 108 cm−2) limit device performance, and techniques are desired to reduce dislocation density during the growth process. Here, we demonstrate how low temperature AlN interlayers (IL) sandwiched between high temperature (HT) GaN layers can be used to improve the electrical, optical, and structural properties of Si doped GaN films. A nearly two-fold increase in mobility is observed in Si doped GaN grown using 5 AlN IL compared to GaN grown on a single AlN NL. For GaN films grown on multiple AlN IL, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy images reveal a significant reduction in the screw dislocation density and photoluminescence spectra reveal a reduction in yellow band intensity. An analysis of the electrical data based on a single donor/single acceptor model suggests that the improved electron mobility is the result of a reduced acceptor concentration in the top GaN film. The reduction in the calculated acceptor concentration may be associated with the reduction of the screw dislocation density.