ABSTRACTHexagonal GaN films grown on non-isomorphic substrates are usually characterized by numerous threading defects which are essentially boundaries between wurtzite GaN domains where the stacking sequences do not align. One origin of these defects is irregularities on the substrate surface such as surface steps. Using Si <111> substrates and a substrate preparation procedure that makes wide atomically flat terraces, we demonstrate that reduction of these irregularities greatly improves the crystalline and luminescent quality of GaN films grown by plasma-enhanced molecular beam epitaxy. X-ray rocking curve width decreases from over 1 degree to less than 20 minutes, while PL halfwidth decreases from over 15 meV to less than 10 meV.
AbstractThe growth of GaN layers was carried out on c-plane sapphire substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) using NH3. Undoped GaN layers were grown at 830°C with growth rates larger than 1 μm/h. Optical properties are characteristics of high quality GaN material and the linewidth of x-ray diffraction (0002) rocking curve is less than 350 arcsec. N- and p-type doping were achieved by using solid sources of Si and Mg. No post-growth annealing was needed to activate the Mg acceptors. As-grown GaN:Mg layers exhibit hole concentrations of 3×1017 cm−3and mobilities of 8 cm2/Vs at 300 K. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on GaN p-n homojunction have been processed. The turn on voltage is 3 V and the forward voltage is 3.7 V at 20 mA. The 300 K electroluminescence (EL) peaks at 390 nm.
ABSTRACTOrientation ordered high-Tc oxide films of Y1Ba2Cu3O7 were prepared by molecular beam epitaxy on SrTiO3 substrates. A combination of effusion cells and e-beam evaporators was used with the addition of an oxygen jet. The superconducting phase is formed by further O2 anneal at temperatures ≥800° C. For SrTiO3 (100), the Y1Ba2Cu3O7 films grow in the orientation of either the c-axis or the a-axis perpendicular to the film plane. Films with predominant “c⊥” orientation exhibit a high degree of crystalline order with a rocking curve 0.3° wide. The Jc is about two times higher than those with the “a⊥” orientation of a comparable Tc (R=0). For a typical film of 9000Å thickness, a Tc (R=O) of 87K, and a Jc of 7 × 104 A/cm2 at 77K were reproducibly achieved. For SrTiO3 (110), X-ray showed twinning of (110) and (103) orientations in Y1Ba2Cu3O7, thus precluding the observation of anisotropy expected for the in-plane axes of [001] and [110].
The reduction of substrate temperature is important in view of the integration of III–V materials with a Si platform. Here, we show the way to significantly decrease substrate temperature by introducing a procedure to create nanoscale holes in the native-SiOx layer on Si(111) substrate via In-induced drilling. Using the fabricated template, we successfully grew self-catalyzed GaAs nanowires by molecular-beam epitaxy. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis reveals no indium atoms inside the nanowires. This unambiguously manifests that the procedure proposed can be used for the growth of ultra-pure GaAs nanowires.
AbstractWe applied ellipsometry to characterize layers of InxGa1-xAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (001) InP. Samples with mismatched layers exhibit significant anisotropy in the index of refraction. We explain these observations by the presence of misfit dislocations which form in an asymmetric pattern. This results in asymmetric strain and, via piezo-optical effects, an anisotropy in the optical properties. This effect makes ellipsometry a more sensitive technique than double-crystal x-ray diffraction for detecting misfit dislocations in these heterostructures.
ABSTRACTGaN epilayers have been grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy on ZrB2 substrates with close in-plane lattice match. Growth processes utilizing both low-temperature GaN (LT-GaN) and AlN nucleation layers were investigated. The x-ray ω-scan widths for the optimized LT-GaN nucleation process were 400 and 750 arcsec for symmetric and asymmetric reflections, respectively. When using LT-GaN nucleation layers, the chemical incompatibility of ZrB2 results in a high dislocation density despite the in-plane lattice match. The epilayer polarity was N-polar for LT-GaN nucleation layers under all conditions investigated. For AlN nucleation layers, Ga-polar epilayers were obtained under suitable conditions (Al-rich, lower nucleation temperatures) for nominal AlN thickness as low as 1 nm. From RHEED analysis it appears that a psuedomorphic Al wetting layer forms on the ZrB2 surface, and that using AlN as the nucleation layer may offer promise for reducing the epilayer defect density.
ABSTRACTThe effects of SiC surface treatment on the lattice relaxation of AlN buffer layers and the crystalline quality of GaN layers grown on the buffer layers were studied. AlN buffer layers and GaN main layers were grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy on on-axis 6H-SiC (0001)Si substrates. High-temperature HCl-gas etching resulted in an atomically flat SiC surface with (√3×√3)R30° surface reconstruction, while HCl-gas etching followed by HF chemical treatment resulted in an atomically flat surface with (1×1) structure. The AlN layer grown on the (1×1) surface showed slower lattice relaxation. GaN grown on the AlN buffer layer exhibited a (0002) X-ray rocking curve of 70 arcsec and 107 cm−2 of screw-type dislocation density, which was superior than that of GaN grown on (√3×√3)R30° surface.
ABSTRACTInxGa1−xP(x>0.27) grown on a GaP substrate has a large direct-bandgap, which is suitable for yellow light emission on a transparent substrate. Because of the large lattice mismatch, usually a thick (10–20 μm) graded buffer layer was required to reduce the threading dislocation density. In this work we report that a thin (1.2 μm for x≃0.35), linearly graded buffer layer can filter out dislocations effectively. The structures were grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) intensity oscillations and X-ray double-crystal diffraction were used to control and determine the composition, respectively. Threading dislocations are well confined in the buffer layer, as shown under transmission electron microscopy. Dislocation loops injected into the substrate were observed, similar to those observed in the Six Ge1−x/Si system. X-ray analysis also shows that the 3% mismatched buffer layer is fully relaxed. This relaxed buffer layer then can serve as a substrate for further growth. Homojunction and heterojunction light emitting diodes were fabricated to demonstrate the material quality.
Low-Temperature In-Induced Holes Formation in Native-SiOx/Si(111) Substrates for Self-Catalyzed MBE Growth of GaAs Nanowires