Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T20:14:00.156Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gallium Nitride Epitaxy on Silicon: Importance of Substrate Preparation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

G. A. Martin ,
B. N. Sverdlov ,
A. Botchkarev ,
H. Morkoç ,
D. J. Smith ,
S.-C. Y. Tsen ,
W. H. Thompson  and
M. H. Nayfeh
G. A. Martin
Affiliation:
Coordinated Science Laboratory and Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
B. N. Sverdlov
Affiliation:
Coordinated Science Laboratory and Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
A. Botchkarev
Affiliation:
Coordinated Science Laboratory and Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
H. Morkoç
Affiliation:
Coordinated Science Laboratory and Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
D. J. Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Solid State Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
S.-C. Y. Tsen
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Solid State Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
W. H. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
M. H. Nayfeh
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
Get access

Abstract

Hexagonal GaN films grown on non-isomorphic substrates are usually characterized by numerous threading defects which are essentially boundaries between wurtzite GaN domains where the stacking sequences do not align. One origin of these defects is irregularities on the substrate surface such as surface steps. Using Si <111> substrates and a substrate preparation procedure that makes wide atomically flat terraces, we demonstrate that reduction of these irregularities greatly improves the crystalline and luminescent quality of GaN films grown by plasma-enhanced molecular beam epitaxy. X-ray rocking curve width decreases from over 1 degree to less than 20 minutes, while PL halfwidth decreases from over 15 meV to less than 10 meV.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 395: Symposium AAA – Gallium Nitride and Related Materials: The First International Symp , 1995 , 67
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1 Strite, S. and Morkoç, H., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 10, 1287 (1992).Google Scholar
2 Smith, D. J., Chandrasekhar, D., Sverdlov, B., Botchkarev, A., Salvador, A., and Morkoç, H., Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 1830 (1995).Google Scholar
3 Lester, S. D., Ponce, F. A., Crawford, M. G., and Steigerwald, D. A., Appl. Phys. Lett. 66, 1249(1995).Google Scholar
4 Sverdlov, B. N., Martin, G. A., Morkoç, H., and Smith, D. J., Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 2063 (1995).Google Scholar
5 Lei, T. and Moustakas, T. D., J. Appl. Phys. 71, 4933 (1992).Google Scholar
6 Ohtani, A., Stevens, K. S., and Beresford, R., Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, 61 (1994).Google Scholar
7 Kung, P., Saxler, A., Zhang, X., Walker, D., Wang, T. C., Ferguson, I., and Razeghi, M., Appl. Phys. Lett. 66, 2958 (1995).Google Scholar
8 Higashi, G. S., Becker, R. S., Chabal, Y. J., and Becker, A. J., Appl. Phys. Lett. 58, 1656 (1991).Google Scholar
9 Neuwald, U., Hessel, H. E., Feltz, A., Memmert, U., and Behm, R. J., Appl. Phys. Lett. 60, 1307(1992).Google Scholar
10 Kageshima, M., Yamada, H., Morita, Y., Tokumoto, H., Nakayama, K., and Kawazu, A., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 32, L1321 (1993).Google Scholar
11 Kern, W., Semiconductor International April 1984, 94.Google Scholar
12 Strite, S., Ruan, J., Li, Z., Manning, N., Salvador, A., Chen, H., Smith, D. J., Choyke, W. J., and Morkoç, H., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 9, 124 (1991).Google Scholar
13 Strite, S., Chandrasekhar, D., Smith, D. J., Sariel, J., Chen, H., Teraguchi, N., and Morkoç, H., J. Cryst. Growth 127, 204 (1993).Google Scholar
14 Chabal, Y. J., Dumas, P., Guyot-Sionnest, P., and Higashi, G. S., Surf. Sci. 242, 524 (1991).Google Scholar
15 Higashi, G. S., Chabal, Y. J., Trucks, G. W., and Raghavachari, K., Appl. Phys. Lett. 56, 656(1990).Google Scholar
16 Niwano, M., Kurita, K., Takeda, Y., and Miyamoto, N., Appl. Phys. Lett. 62, 1003 (1993).Google Scholar
17 Yang, S.-K., Peter, S., and Takoudis, C. G., J. Appl. Phys. 76, 4107 (1994).Google Scholar