R. Datta

In-plane imperfections in GaN studied by x-ray diffraction

We have studied a series of GaN films grown with a range of dislocation densities by atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD). The (002), (004), (006), (105), (204), (302), (100), (110), (200) and (300) reflections were measured as reciprocal space maps (RSMs) or scans in ω and ω/2θ. The latter 4 in-plane reflections were measured using a low, or glancing, incident angle with respect to the film surface. We have used a variety of different methods to try and obtain reliable measurements for mosaic tilt, twist, crystallite size and microstrain both in- and out-of plane. From (hk0) data in-plane twist angles were measured ranging from 0.37° to 0.078° and in-plane microstrains from 3.5 × 10−4 to 1.8 × 10−4. The improvements in the quality of the GaN layers relate to the increased island coalescence time, which reduces in particular the number of edge-type threading dislocations. The first three samples had a much larger tilt ~0.09° than the last three ~0.04°. However, the latter samples were bowed, so results from a single measurement on the (002) peak are too large. Beam restriction on the (002) or an extrapolation from several (00l) reflections gives more reliable results. The values obtained for in-plane crystallite size are in general variable or unreliable. For some samples the sizes are considered to be too large to be accessible by XRD; in most cases the peak broadening is dominated by tilt or twist or microstrain and the results are sensitive to assumptions about the peak shape. For the samples with smaller measurable crystallite sizes, the (hk0) peaks were too weak to measure reliably. The cell parameters showed more compressive strain with fewer dislocations. The trends observed by HRXRD are consistent with AFM and TEM results.

Revealing all types of threading dislocations in GaN with improved contrast in a single plan view image

In this letter, we demonstrate a transmission electron microscope based technique which reveals all types of threading dislocations (TDs) in GaN with high contrast over a relatively large area, even if the specimen is bent. This method uses a bright-field image with the crystal oriented at the ⟨1–21–3⟩ zone axis, taken using multi-beam diffraction conditions. Such an image reveals all screw, edge, and mixed types of threading dislocations. The multi-beam imaging technique described here for GaN is more generally applicable to counting the total dislocation density in a wide range of materials and structures.

Reduction of threading dislocation density using in-situ SiNx interlayers

In-situ SiNx interlayers (ILs) have been used in order to reduce the density of threading dislocations (TDs) in MOVPE grown GaN and the mechanisms of TD reduction have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that, such ILs are very efficient for reducing the density of all types of TDs via a mechanism of TD bending through 90° and subsequently forming loops, depending on the availability of the right partner. A new mechanism for bending of TDs through 90° is briefly discussed.