Ding Guojian

Characteristics of GaN grown on 6H-SiC with different AlN buffers

Characteristics of GaN grown on 6H-SiC (0001) substrates using different thicknesses of AlN buffers are studied. It is found that the surface morphology and crystal quality of GaN film closely depends on the strain state of the AlN buffer. For a thicker AlN buffer, there are cracks on GaN surface, which make the GaN films unsuitable for applications. While for a thinner AlN buffer, more dislocations are produced in the GaN film, which deteriorates the performance of GaN. Possible generation mechanisms of cracks and more dislocations are investigated and a ~100 nm AlN buffer is suggested to be a better choice for high quality GaN on SiC.

Growth of semi-insulating GaN by using two-step AlN buffer layer

Semi-insulating GaN is grown by using a two-step AlN buffer layer by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition. The sheet resistance of as-grown semi-insulating GaN is dramatically increased to 1013 Ω/sq by using two-step AlN buffer instead of the traditional low-temperature GaN buffer. The high sheet resistance of as-grown GaN over 1013 Ω/sq is due to inserting an insulating buffer layer (two-step AlN buffer) between the high-temperature GaN layer and a sapphire substrate which blocks diffusion of oxygen and overcomes the weakness of generating high density carrier near interface of GaN and sapphire when a low-temperature GaN buffer is used. The result suggests that the high conductive feature of unintentionally doped GaN is mainly contributed from the highly conductive channel near interface between GaN and the sapphire substrate, which is indirectly manifested by room-temperature photoluminescence excited by an incident laser beam radiating on growth surface and on the substrate. The functions of the two-step AlN buffer layer in reducing screw dislocation and improving crystal quality of GaN are also discussed.

Growth of Highly Conductive n-Type Al0.7Ga0.3N Film by Using AlN Buffer with Periodical Variation of V/III Ratio

High quality and highly conductive n-type Al0.7Ga0.3N films are obtained by using AlN multi-step layers (MSL) with periodical variation of V/III ratios by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (LP-MOCVD). The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of (0002) and (1015) rocking curves of the Si-doped Al0.7Ga0.3N layer are 519 and 625 arcsec, respectively. Room temperature (RT) Hall measurement shows a free electron concentration of 2.9 × 1019 cm−3, and mobility of 17.8 cm2V−1s−1, corresponding to a resistivity of 0.0121 ω cm. High conductivity of the Si-doped AlGaN film with such high Al mole fraction is mainly contributed by a remarkable reduction of threading dislocations (TDs) in AlGaN layer. The TD reducing mechanism in AlN MSL growth with periodical variation of V/III ratio is discussed in detail.

Growth and Characteristics of Epitaxial AlxGa1−xN by MOCVD

AlxGa1-xN epilayers with a wide Al composition range (0.2 ≤ x ≤ 0.68) were grown on AlN/sapphire templates by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (LP-MOCVD). X-ray diffraction results reveal that both the (0002) and (105) full widths at half-maximum (FWHM) of the AlxGa1−xN epilayer decrease with increasing Al composition due to the smaller lattice mismatch to the AlN template. However, the surface morphology becomes rougher with increasing Al composition due to the weak migration ability of Al atoms. Low temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra show pronounced near band edge (NBE) emission and the NBE FWHM becomes broader with increasing Al composition mainly caused by alloy disorder. Meanwhile, possible causes of the low energy peaks in the PL spectra are discussed.