Reina Miyagawa

Microstructure of AlN grown on a nucleation layer on a sapphire substrate

The growth conditions and interface microstructure of AlN on sapphire grown using a nucleation layer (NL) have been studied. The AlN layer with NL-AlN grown at 1100 °C exhibits a smooth surface morphology. The epilayer has a small amount of tilting but the twisting is large. For the AlN layer with NL-AlN grown at 1250 °C, the twisting is reduced, but the surface is rough owing to the mixing of crystallographic polarity. The origins of AlN inversion domains are discussed by considering the microstructures observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), with the ultimate aim of growing a high-quality AlN layer.

Raman Scattering Spectroscopy of Residual Stresses in Epitaxial AlN Films

High-crystalline-quality epitaxial films of wurtzite AlN were grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) and hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). The lattice strain of the films was analyzed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction and the E2 (high)-phonon frequency was observed by Raman scattering. Data analysis for wide ranges of lattice strains and phonon-peak shifts yielded a precise biaxial stress coefficient of this phonon mode, -4.04±0.3 cm-1/GPa. Furthermore, the deformation potential constant was accurately determined from the biaxial stress coefficient.

Effects of the AlN Interlayer on the Distribution and Mobility of Two-Dimensional Electron Gas in AlGaN/AlN/GaN Heterojunctions

Al0.25Ga0.75N/AlN/GaN heterojunctions with AlN interlayers of various thicknesses were grown on c-plane sapphire by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). We have revealed that the AlN interlayer hardly affects morphologies and crystal qualities; however, it prominently enhances the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) mobility. The optimum thickness of the AlN interlayer is 1 nm, and the corresponding room temperature Hall mobility and the sheet carrier density are 1700 cm2 V-1 s-1 and 1.27 ×1013 cm-2, respectively. Self-consistent calculation results indicates that with increasing AlN thickness, i) the conduction-band discontinuity between AlGaN and GaN linearly increases; ii) the percentage of the total carriers in the AlGaN layer exponentially decreases, and content in the AlN layer exponentially increases.

Quantitative study of energy-transfer mechanism in Eu,O-codoped GaN by time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy

In order to investigate the excitation processes in Eu,O-codoped GaN (GaN:Eu,O), the time-resolved photoluminescence signal including the rising part is analyzed. A rate equation is developed based upon a model for the excitation processes in GaN:Eu to fit the experimental data. The non-radiative recombination rate of the trap state in the GaN host, the energy transfer rate between the Eu3+ ions and the GaN host, the radiative transition probability of Eu3+ ion, as well as the ratio of the number of luminescent sites (OMVPE 4α and OMVPE 4β), are simultaneously determined. It is revealed and quantified that radiative transition probability of the Eu ion is the bottleneck for the enhancement of light output from GaN:Eu. We also evaluate the effect of the growth conditions on the luminescent efficiency of GaN:Eu quantitatively, and find the correlation between emission intensity of GaN:Eu and the fitting parameters introduced in our model.

Surface thermal stability of free-standing GaN substrates

The thermal stability of GaN surfaces was investigated with respect to homo-epitaxy on free-standing GaN substrates. Morphologies and etching rates of the GaN surfaces for free-standing polar (0001), nonpolar , and semipolar and planes were studied before and after thermal cleaning. In the case of the polar (0001) plane, polishing scratches disappeared after thermal cleaning at temperatures above 1000 °C. The surface morphology depended on not only the cleaning temperature, but also the substrate off-angle. The surface after thermal cleaning became rough for the substrate with off-angle less than 0.05°. In the case of nonpolar and semipolar planes after thermal cleaning, surface morphologies and etching rates were strongly dependent on the planes. A flat surface was maintained at cleaning temperatures up to 1100 °C for the plane, but the surface of the plane became rough with increasing cleaning temperature.

Growth of High Quality c-plane AlN on a-plane Sapphire

c-plane (0001) AlN layers were grown on sapphire (11-20) and (0001) substrates by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) and metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), respectively. The growth temperatures were adjusted from 1430-1500 °C and the reactor pressure was kept constant at 30 Torr. Mirror and flat c-plane AlN were obtained grown on both a-plane and c-plane sapphire. Crystalline quality and surface roughness are improved with increasing growth temperature, detected by high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The Full widths at half maximum (FWHM) values of (10-12) diffraction are 519 and 1219 arcsec for c-plane AlN grown on a-plane sapphire and c-plane sapphire, respectively. It indicates that a-plane sapphire substrate benefits to decrease dislocations density.