S. A. Nikishin

High quality GaN grown on Si(111) by gas source molecular beam epitaxy with ammonia

We describe the growth of hexagonal GaN on Si(111) by gas source molecular beam epitaxy with ammonia. The initial deposition of Al, at 1130–1190 K, resulted in a very rapid transition to a two-dimensional growth mode of AlN. The rapid transition is essential for the subsequent growth of high quality GaN and AlGaN. This procedure also resulted in complete elimination of cracking in thick (>2 μm) GaN layers. For layers thicker than 1.5 μm, the full width at half maximum of the (0002) GaN diffraction peak was less than 14 arc sec. We show that a short period superlattice of AlGaN/GaN grown on the AlN buffer can be used to block defects propagating through GaN, resulting in good crystal and luminescence quality. At room temperature, the linewidth of the GaN exciton recombination peak was less than 40 meV, typical of the best samples grown on sapphire.

LUMINESCENCE OF AS-GROWN AND THERMALLY ANNEALED GAASN/GAAS

We report a study of the luminescence properties of coherently strained GaAs1−xNx grown on GaAs by metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy. Well-defined photoluminescence was observed in samples with a nitrogen concentration up to 3%. Samples subjected to thermal anneals, investigated by x-ray diffraction and photoluminescence, show increased nitrogen incorporation and significant improvements in the luminescence efficiency. A band-gap reduction of more than 400 meV, compared to GaAs, is observed for a nitrogen concentration of ∼3%. For the range of nitrogen concentrations investigated here, the band gap follows predictions of the dielectric model of Van Vechten [J. A. Van Vechten and T. K. Bergstresser, Phys. Rev. B 1, 3351 (1970), and references therein].

Raman studies of nitrogen incorporation in GaAs1−xNx

We report direct-backscattering Raman studies of GaAs1−xNx alloys, for x⩽0.03, grown on (001) GaAs. The Raman spectra exhibit a two-mode behavior. The allowed GaAs-like longitudinal-optic phonon near 292 cm−1 is found to red shift at a rate of −136±10 cm−1/x. This is well described by the combined effects of strain and alloying. The GaN-like phonon near 470 cm−1 is observed to increase in intensity in direct proportion to x, and to systematically blue shift at a rate of 197±10 cm−1/x. This blue shift is likewise attributed to strain and alloying. The GaAs-like second-order features are also seen to broaden slightly and diminish in intensity with increasing nitrogen concentration. These results are attributed to a weak breakdown in the zincblende-crystal long-range order, possibly related to the presence of ordered domains within the random alloy.

HfO2 gate dielectric with 0.5 nm equivalent oxide thickness

Hafnium dioxide films have been deposited using reactive electron beam evaporation in oxygen on hydrogenated Si(100) surfaces. The capacitance–voltage curves of as-deposited metal(Ti)–insulator–semiconductor structures exhibited large hysteresis and frequency dispersion. With post-deposition annealing in hydrogen at 300 °C, the frequency dispersion decreased to less than 1%/decade, while the hysteresis was reduced to 20 mV at flatband. An equivalent oxide thickness of 0.5 nm was achieved for HfO2 thickness of 3.0 nm. We attribute this result to a combination of pristine hydrogen saturated silicon surfaces, room temperature dielectric deposition, and low temperature hydrogen annealing.

AlN/AlGaInN superlattice light-emitting diodes at 280 nm

Ultraviolet light-emitting diodes operating at 280 nm, grown by gas source molecular-beam epitaxy with ammonia, are described. The device is composed of n- and p-type superlattices of AlN(1.2 nm thick)/AlGaInN(0.5 nm thick) doped with Si and Mg, respectively. With these superlattices, and despite the high average Al content, we obtain hole concentrations of (0.7–1.1)×1018 cm−3, with the mobility of 3–4 cm2/V s and electron concentrations of 3×1019 cm−3, with the mobility of 10–20 cm2/V s, at room temperature. These carrier concentrations are sufficient to form effective p–n junctions needed in UV light sources.

High-quality AlN grown on Si(111) by gas-source molecular-beam epitaxy with ammonia

Hexagonal AlN layers were grown on Si(111) by gas-source molecular-beam epitaxy with ammonia. The transition between the (7×7) and (1×1) silicon surface reconstructions, at 1100 K, was used for in situ calibration of the substrate temperature. The initial deposition of Al, at 1130–1190 K, produced an effective nucleation layer for the growth of AlN. The Al layer also reduced islands of SiNx that might be formed due to background NH3 on the silicon surface prior to the onset of epitaxial growth. The transition to two-dimensional growth mode, under optimum conditions, was obtained after the initial AlN thickness of ∼7 nm.

EXCITONS BOUND TO NITROGEN CLUSTERS IN GAASN

We studied the photoluminescence from GaAsN/GaAs, with the nitrogen content of less than 0.5%. The low-temperature photoluminescence spectra are composed of several excitons bound to nitrogen complexes, each associated with different composition or configuration. These features were studied as a function of the excitation intensity, temperature, concentration, and growth conditions. The dependence of the binding energy of the dominant recombination center on the nitrogen concentration is interpreted in terms of a hierarchy of nitrogen complexes, from centers composed of at least two nitrogen atoms to more extended clusters. These excitonic transitions are very sensitive to growth parameters and can be used to study the statistical distribution of nitrogen in nominally uniform layers. We also show that the transition from nitrogen doping to alloy formation occurs for nitrogen concentrations above 0.25%.

Selective growth of high quality GaN on Si(111) substrates

We demonstrate selective growth of high-quality GaN by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy on Si(111) wafers patterned with SiO2. GaN was grown on wafers having two different buffer layers. The first buffer layer contains two AlGaN/GaN superlattices, separated by GaN spacer, grown on AlN, with a total thickness of 400 nm. The second is a thin AlN (1.5 nm) buffer layer. X-ray diffraction confirms (0001) growth orientation, smooth interfaces, and coherence lengths comparable to the layer thickness in both samples. In the case of the thin AlN buffer layer, the tensile stress measured by the E2 Raman line shift is attributed to the mismatch in the thermal expansion coefficients of GaN and Si. However, when the AlGaN/GaN superlattice buffer layer is grown first, a reduced stress is measured. High carrier concentrations (≈1018 cm−3) are seen in the GaN grown on the thin AlN buffer layer, which we attribute to the incorporation of silicon from the substrate during the growth process. The superlattice buffer layer ...

AlGaInN-based ultraviolet light-emitting diodes grown on Si(111)

Ultraviolet light-emitting diodes grown on Si(111) by gas-source molecular-beam epitaxy with ammonia are described. The layers are composed of superlattices of AlGaN/GaN and AlN/AlGaInN. The layers are doped n and p type with Si and Mg, respectively. Hole concentration of 4×1017 cm−3, with a mobility of 8 cm2/Vs, is measured in Al0.4Ga0.6N/GaN. We demonstrate effective n- and p-type doping of structures based on AlN/AlGaInN. Light-emitting diodes based on these structures show light emission between 290 and 334 nm.

Growth of single phase GaAs1−xNx with high nitrogen concentration by metal–organic molecular beam epitaxy

High quality layers of GaAs1−xNx were grown on (001)GaAs by metal–organic molecular beam epitaxy. The growth conditions, and especially the nitrogen to arsenic flux ratio, were carefully explored to assure epitaxial crystal growth. We show well behaved and reproducible growth of single phase GaAs1−xNx with the GaN mole fraction as high as x=0.10. The nitrogen content of epitaxial layers was determined directly by secondary ion mass spectroscopy and high resolution x-ray diffraction.