Kazutoshi Watanabe

Thermal and optical properties of bulk GaN crystals fabricated through hydride vapor phase epitaxy with void-assisted separation

The fundamental material parameters associated with GaN, which are important for the design of devices such as light-emitting diodes and laser diodes, were investigated using large high-quality GaN single crystals fabricated through hydride vapor phase epitaxy using the void-assisted separation method. The thermal-expansion coefficients (298–573K) along the C[0001], A[112¯0], and M[101¯0] axes (αC, αA, and αM) were measured. Thermal expansion in each direction, approximately proportional to the temperature, was observed throughout the measured temperature range. Although the thermal-expansion coefficients in the high-temperature range, i.e., αC(573K)=7.2±0.02×10−6∕K, αA(573K)=5.7±0.2×10−6∕K, and αM(573K)=5.8±0.2×10−6∕K,were relatively close to the reported values, the thermal-expansion coefficients along the C axis in the low-temperature range, i.e., αC(298K)=5.3±0.02×10−6∕K, was significantly larger than the reported values. Thermal conductivities parallel and perpendicular to the C axis were almost the ...

Freestanding GaN Wafers by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy Using Void-Assisted Separation Technology

An outline is presented of the fabrication technique of freestanding GaN wafers by hydride vapor phase epitaxy using the void-assisted separation method and the properties of resulting crystals. A thick GaN layer of large area can be separated with excellent reproducibility from a base substrate by the application of thermal stress. This process is assisted by numerous voids formed near the interface between the thick GaN layer and the base substrate. By using this method, high-quality GaN wafers of large area with diameters of over 3 in. have been prepared.

Evaluation of Crystal Orientation for (K,Na)NbO3 Films Using X-ray Diffraction Reciprocal Space Map and Relationship between Crystal Orientation and Piezoelectric Coefficient

We have found an effective method for the evaluation of the crystal orientation of (K,Na)NbO3 (KNN) films in the (K,Na)NbO3/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si structure using X-ray diffraction (XRD) reciprocal space maps. Previously, the crystal structure and orientation of such (K,Na)NbO3 films were evaluated using 2θ/θ XRD, and were considered to be the pseudocubic perovskite structure with preferential (001) orientation and no (111) orientation. Here, we applied the new method using XRD reciprocal space maps, and discovered that the (K,Na)NbO3 films had some degree of KNN(111) orientation. We calculated the KNN(001)- and KNN(111)-orientation volume fractions for the (K,Na)NbO3 films from the (101) diffraction peaks originating from the KNN(001)- and KNN(111)-orientation elements in the XRD reciprocal space maps, considering the calibration factors obtained from pole-figure simulations, and examined the relationship between the crystal orientation and d31 piezoelectric coefficient in the (K,Na)NbO3 films. The results indicated that the d31 piezoelectric coefficient increases with increasing (001)-orientation volume fraction.