Epitaxial layers of aluminum nitride have been grown at temperatures 1900-2400degreesC on 10 x 10 mm(2) 4H-SiC substrate via sublimation recondensation in an RF heated graphite furnace. The source material was polycrystalline sintered AlN. A maximum growth rate of about 100 mum/h was achieved at 2400degreesC and seed to source distance of 1 mm. The surface morphology reflects the hexagonal symmetry of the seed suggesting an epitaxial growth. This was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The spectra showed very strong and well-defined (0002) reflection position at around 36.04degrees in symmetric Theta-2Thetascans for all samples. Micro-Raman spectroscopy reveals that the films have a wurtzite structure. It is evidenced by the appearance of the A(1) (TO) (at 601 cm(-1)) and E-2((2)) (at 651 cm(-1)) lines in the spectra. Secondary-ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) results showed a low concentration of carbon incorporation in the AlN films. A correlation between the growth conditions and properties of the AlN layers was established.
Epitaxial layers of aluminum nitride (AlN)less than or equal to 80 mum thick have been grown at the temperatures 1900 and 2100 degreesC on 10x10mm(2) 4H-SiC substrates via sublimation recondensation in a RF heated graphite furnace. The source material was polyerystalline sintered AlN. A maximum growth rate of 80 mum/h was achieved at 2100degreesC and seed to source separation of I mm. The surface morphology reflects the hexagonal symmetry of the seed that suggesting an epitaxial growth. All crystals show strong and well defined single crystalline XRD patterns. Only the (002) reflection positioned at around 36.04 was observed in symmetric Theta-2Theta scan. The rocking curves FWHM (full width half maximum) and peak positions arc reported.
Epitaxial layers of aluminum nitride less than or equal to335 mum thick have been grown attemperatures of 1900 and 2100degreesC on 10 x 10 mm(2) (0001)-oriented alpha(4H) silicon carbide (SiC), with growth times of 1 and 4h, via sublimation-recondensation in a RF-heated graphite furnace. The source material was polycrystalline AIN. The sublimation process was performed in three types of graphite (C) crucible: C-1, C-2 with inner diameters of 35 and 51 mm, respectively, and C-3 with the same inner diameter as C-1, but coated with a layer of TaC. The surface morphology reflects the hexagonal symmetry of the substrate, suggesting an epitaxial growth for samples grown in C-1 and C-3 crucibles for all growth conditions. The same symmetry is observed for AIN layers grown in the C-2 crucible, but only at 2100degreesC. X-ray diffraction analyses confirm the epitaxial growth of AIN samples with the expected hexagonal symmetry. A high-resolution X-ray diffractometer was used to assess the quality of the single crystals. A full width at half maximum of 242 arcsec was achieved for an AIN layer grown in the crucible coated with TaC. (C) 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers.
High-resistivity 4H-SiC samples grown by sublimation with a high growth rate are studied. The measurements show resistivity values up to a high of 104 Ωcm. The secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) results revealed a presence of only common trace impurities such as nitrogen, aluminum, and boron. To understand the compensation mechanism in these samples, capacitance deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) on the p-type epilayers has been performed. By correlation between the growth conditions and SIMS results, we apply a model in which it is proposed that an isolated carbon vacancy donorlike level is a possible candidate responsible for compensation of the shallow acceptors in p-type 4H-SiC. A relation between cathodoluminescence (CL) and DLTS data is taken into account to support the model.
Theoretical calculations focused on the stability of an infinite hexagonal AlN (h-AlN) sheet and its structural and electronic properties were carried out within the framework of DFT at the GGA-PBE level of theory. For the simulations, an h-AlN sheet model system consisting in 96 atoms per super-cell has been adopted. For h-AlN, we predict an Al-N bond length of 1.82 angstrom and an indirect gap of 2.81 eV as well as a cohesive energy which is by 6% lower than that of the bulk (wurtzite) AlN which can be seen as a qualitative indication for synthesizability of individual h-AlN sheets. Besides the study of a perfect h-AlN sheet, also the most typical defects, namely, vacancies, anti-site defects and impurities were also explored. The formation energies for these defects were calculated together with the total density of states and the corresponding projected states were also evaluated. The charge density in the region of the defects was also addressed. Energetically, the anti-site defects are the most costly, while the impurity defects are the most favorable, especially so for the defects arising from Si impurities. Defects such as nitrogen vacancies and Si impurities lead to a breaking of the planar shape of the h-AlN sheet and in some cases to the formation of new bonds. The defects significantly change the band structure in the vicinity of the Fermi level in comparison to the band structure of the perfect h-AlN which can be used for deliberately tailoring the electronic properties of individual h-AlN sheets.
We have investigated gas-phase reactions driven by silane (SiH4), which is the dopant precursor in the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of aluminum nitride (AlN) doped by silicon, with prime focus on determination of the associated energy barriers. Our theoretical strategy is based on combining density-functional methods with minimum energy path calculations. The outcome of these calculations is suggestive for kinetically plausible and chemically stable reaction species with Al-Si bonding such as (CH3)(2)AlSiH3 and N-Si bonding such as H2NSiH3. Within this theoretical perspective, we propose a view of these reaction species as relevant for the actual MOCVD of Si-doped AlN, which is otherwise known to be contributed by the reaction species (CH3)(2)AlNH2 with Al-N bonding. By reflecting on experimental evidence in the MOCVD of various doped semiconductor materials, it is anticipated that the availability of dopant species with Al-Si, and alternatively N-Si bonding near the hot deposition surface, can govern the incorporation of Si atoms, as well as other point defects, at the AlN surface.
Graphite-like hexagonal AlN (h-AlN) multilayers have been experimentally manifested and theoretically modeled. The development of any functional electronics applications of h-AlN would most certainly require its integration with other layered materials, particularly graphene. Here, by employing vdW-corrected density functional theory calculations, we investigate structure, interaction energy, and electronic properties of van der Waals stacking sequences of few-layer h-AlN with graphene. We find that the presence of a template such as graphene induces enough interlayer charge separation in h-AlN, favoring a graphite-like stacking formation. We also find that the interface dipole, calculated per unit cell of the stacks, tends to increase with the number of stacked layers of h-AlN and graphene.
We employ ab initio calculations to predict the equilibrium structure, stability, reactivity, and Raman scattering properties of sixteen different (H3C)(n)X(SiH3)(3-n) compounds (X = B, Al, Ga, In) with n = 0-3. Among this methylsilylmetal family, only the (H3C)(3)X members, i.e., trimethylboron (TMB), trimethylaluminum (TMA), trimethylgallium (TMG), and trimethylindium (TMI), are currently well-studied. The remaining twelve compounds proposed here open up a two-dimensional array of new possibilities for precursors in various deposition processes, and evoke potential applications in the chemical synthesis of other compounds. We infer that within the (H3C)(n)X(SiH3)(3-n) family, the compounds with fewer silyl groups (and consequently with more methyl groups) are less reactive and more stable. This trend is verified from the calculated cohesive energy, Gibbs free energy of formation, bond strength, and global chemical indices. Furthermore, we propose sequential reaction routes for the synthesis of (H3C)(n)X(SiH3)(3-n) by substitution of methyl by silyl groups, where the silicon source is the silane gas. The corresponding reaction barriers for these chemical transformations lie in the usual energy range typical for MOCVD processes. We also report the Raman spectra and light scattering properties of the newly proposed (H3C)(n)X(SiH3)(3-n) compounds, in comparison with available data of known members of this family. Thus, our computational experiment provides useful information for a systematic understanding of the stability/reactivity and for the identification of these compounds.
Capacitance-voltage [C(V)] measurements of metal-insulator-semiconductor-heterostructure capacitors are used to investigate the interface between silicon nitride passivation and AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructure material. AlGaN/AlN/GaN samples having different silicon nitride passivating layers, deposited using three different deposition techniques, are evaluated. Different interface state distributions result in large differences in the C(V) characteristics. A method to extract fixed charge as well as traps from the C(V) characteristics is presented. Rough estimates of the emission time constants of the traps can be extracted by careful analysis of the C(V) characteristics. The fixed charge is positive for all samples, with a density varying between 1.3 x 10(12) and 7.1 x 10(12) cm(-2). For the traps, the peak density of interface states is varying between 16 x 10(12) and 31 x 10(12) cm(-2) eV(-1) for the three samples. It is concluded that, of the deposition methods investigated in this report, the low pressure chemical vapor deposited silicon nitride passivation shows the most promising results with regards to low densities of interface states.
Exciton recombination bands in homoepitaxial AIN layers are strongly dependent on the presence of hydrogen. By thermal treatment under hydrogen-free and hydrogen-rich ambient, respectively, several sharp bound exciton lines are modulated in intensity reversibly. In contrast, the exciton bound at the neutral donor silicon remains unaffected. The mechanism causing these effects is most probably hydrogen in-and out-diffusion into the AIN sample. The main factor determining hydrogenation of AIN layers is found to be molecular H-2 in contrast to NH3. We find hints that carbon incorporation into AIN may be closely related with that of hydrogen. Besides photoluminescence spectra of exciton bands, our model is supported by theoretical reports and comparison to the case of hydrogen in GaN.
The inherent advantages of the hot-wall metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactor (low temperature gradients, less bowing of the wafer during growth, efficient precursor cracking) compared to a cold-wall reactor make it easier to obtain uniform growth. However, arcing may occur in the growth chamber during growth, which deteriorates the properties of the grown material. By inserting insulating pyrolytic BN (PBN) stripes in the growth chamber we have completely eliminated this problem. Using this novel approach we have grown highly uniform, advanced high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structures on 4 semi-insulating (SI) SiC substrates with gas-foil rotation of the substrate. The nonuniformities of sheet resistance and epilayer thickness are typically less than 3% over the wafer. The room temperature hall mobility of the 2DEG is well above 2000 cm(2)/V s and the sheet resistance about 270 Omega/sqr.
First-principles calculations, which also implement the nudged elastic band (NEB) code, are performed to investigate (i) the stability of the (C2H5)(3)B:NH3 adduct formed by the initial precursor molecules triethylborane (C2H5)(3)B and ammonia NH3 in the metal-chemical-vapor-deposition (MOCVD) of hexagonal BN, and (ii) the energy barrier to the first ethane elimination through consistent unimolecular, ammonia-assisted, and adduct-assisted reaction pathways. Comparison is done with the reference case of the (CH3)(3)Al:NH3 adduct, notoriously known for its high degree of stability and reactivity, which determines an overall severe parasitic gas-phase chemical reaction mechanism in the deposition of AlN.
The band structure and stability of XBi and XBi3 (X = B, Al, Ga, and In) single sheets are predicted using first-principles calculations. It is demonstrated that the band gap values of these new classes of two-dimensional (2D) materials depend on both the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and type of group-III elements in these hetero-sheets. Thus, topological properties can be achieved, allowing for viable applications based on coherent spin transport at room temperature. The spin-orbit effects are proved to be essential to explain the tunability by group-III atoms. A clear effect of including SOC in the calculations is lifting the spin degeneracy of the bands at the Gamma point of the Brillouin zone. The nature of the band gaps, direct or indirect, is also tuned by SOC, and by the appropriate X element involved. It is observed that, in the case of XBi single sheets, band inversions naturally occur for GaBi and InBi, which exhibit band gap values around 172 meV. This indicates that these 2D materials are potential candidates for topological insulators. On the contrary, a similar type of band inversion, as obtained for the XBi, was not observed in the XBi3 band structure. In general, the calculations, taking into account SOC, reveal that some of these buckled sheets exhibit sizable gaps, making them suitable for applications in room-temperature spintronic devices.
Two-dimensional (2D) binary XBi compounds, where X belongs to group III elements (B, Al, Ga, and In), in a buckled honeycomb structure may originate sizable gap Z2 topological insulators (TIs). These are characterized by exhibiting single band inversion at the Γ point as well as nontrivial edge states in their corresponding nanoribbons. By using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that hydrogenation of XBi single layers leads to distinct and stable crystal structures, which can preserve their topological insulating properties. Moreover, hydrogenation opens a band gap in this new class of 2D Z2 TIs, with distinct intensities, exhibiting an interesting electronic behavior for viable room-temperature applications of these 2D materials. The nature of the global band gap (direct or indirect) and topological insulating properties depend on the X element type and spatial configuration of the sheet, as well as the applied strain. Our results indicate that the geometric configuration can be crucial for preserving totally the topological characteristics of the hydrogenated sheets. We identify sizable band inversions in the band structure for the relaxed hydrogenated GaBi and InBi in their chairlike configurations and for hydrogenated BBi and AlBi under strain. Based on these findings, hydrogenation gives rise to a flexible chemical tunability and can preserve the band topology of the pristine XBi phases.
First-principles calculations are employed to investigate structural, electronic and topological insulating properties of XBi (X = B, Al, Ga, and In) monolayers upon halogenation. It is known that Y-XBi (X = Ga, In, Tl; Y = F, Cl, Br, I) can originate inversion-asymmetric topological insulators with large bulk band gaps. Our results suggest that Y-XBi (X = B, Al; Y = F, Cl, Br, I) may also result in nontrivial topological insulating phases. Despite the lower atomic number of B and Al, the spin-orbit coupling opens a band gap of about 400 meV in Y-XBi (X = B, Al), exhibiting an unusual electronic behavior for practical applications in spintronics. The nature of the bulk band gap and Dirac-cone edge states in their nanoribbons depends on the group-III elements and Y chemical species. They lead to a chemical tunability, giving rise to distinct band inversion symmetries and exhibiting Rashba-type spin splitting in the valence band of these systems. These findings indicate that a large family of Y-XBi sheets can exhibit nontrivial topological characteristics, by a proper tuning, and open a new possibility for viable applications at room temperature.
Thin amorphous and polycrystalline tungsten oxide films have been prepared by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) from metallorganic precursor - tungsten hexacarbonyl - at atmospheric pressure. The dependence of the composition and the structure of tungsten oxide films on the technological conditions has been investigated by XPS, XRD, DTA-TGA and Raman spectroscopy. As a result it has been established that: at high values of the flow-rates of the reaction gases amorphous films of very low density have been obtained, in the XPS spectra of the understoichiometric WO3-y (0 < y < 0.3) films besides W6+, also W5+ and W4+ states have been observed. First to observe in the Raman spectra of amorphous CVD-WO3 films is the band at similar to 950 cm(-1), characteristic for terminal W6+=O bonds in result of the presence of structural water. The existence of structural water in the amorphous material has been established by thermal analyze, also.
This paper presents the structural, chemical and electronic properties of Al/Ni/ Al-layers evaporated on 4H silicon carbide and then annealed at 1000°C for 5 min. The structure was investigated before and after annealing by transmission electron spectroscopy from cross-sectional specimens. With x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, both element distribution and bonding energies were followed during sputtering through the alloyed metal-semiconductor contact. Voids are found in both annealed Ni/4H-SiC and Al/Ni/Al/4H-SiC contact layers, though closer to the metal-semiconductor interface in the former case. The first aluminum-layer is believed to prevent voids to be formed at the interface and also to reduce the oxide on the semiconductor surface. The contact was found to be ohmic with a specific contact resistance ρc - 1.8 × 10−5 Ωcm2 which is more than three times lower ρc than for the ordinary Ni/4H-SiC contact prepared in the same way.
AlxGa1-xN multiple quantum wells (MQW) were grown on AlN epilayer grown on 4H-SiC substrate. The growth was performed without interruption in a horizontal hot-wall MOCVD reactor using a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen as carrier gases. The precursors were ammonia, trimethylaluminum and trimethylgallium. Results obtained from X-ray diffraction and infra-red reflectance were used to obtain the composition of the films when growing simple AlxGa1 xN layer. Visible reflectance was used to evaluate the thickness of the films. Finally the MQW parameters as thicknesses and composition variation were obtained by scanning transmission electron microscopy and demonstrated an agreement with the growth parameters used
A time-resolved micro-Raman technique was developed to probe the transient voltage in the GaN buffer layer of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure devices. The transient potential distribution under Ohmic contacts of devices behaved like a capacitance-resistance coupled network, with a decrease in amplitude and phase shift of the potential as a function of operating voltage frequency. This phenomenon was used to extract a value of 0.6 M Omega/square for sheet resistance of the AIN nucleation layer at the GaN/SiC interface from the characteristic RC value of the network. This demonstrates the effectiveness of this voltage probe technique as a non-invasive method of characterizing nucleation layers.
The objective of this work was to study the effect of a liquid phase epitaxy buffer layer on the development of defects in sublimation grown epitaxial layers of 4H-SiC. The results were analyzed with the aid of optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, high-resolution X-ray diffraction and synchrotron white beam X-ray topography. A pronounced effect of the liquid phase epitaxy buffer layer on formation of dislocations and micropipes is observed in the sublimation epitaxy layers. It has been shown that during sublimation growth of epilayer with a thin liquid phase epitaxy buffer layer (0.1µm) defects may undergo transformation and stacking faults can be formed. Sublimation grown epilayers grown on a thick liquid phase epitaxy buffer layer (1µm) also showed a symmetrical distribution of misfit dislocations along the <112¯0> and [11¯00] directions. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
We demonstrated successful growth of AIN at a temperature of 1200 degrees C in a set of hot-wall MOCVD systems with the possibility of straightforward scaling up the process on larger wafer areas to meet the demand of device technologies. We outlined several aspects of the carefully optimized design and process parameters with relevance to achievement of a high overall growth rate (1 and up to 2 mu m/h), efficiency, and uniformity, which to a great extent depends on how consumption of growth-limiting species by gas-phase adduct formation can actively be prevented. Mixing of the precursors upstream from the deposition area facilitates uniform epitaxial growth, while the greater uniformity of substrate temperature inherent to the hot-wall reactor and rotation of the wafer are of fundamental importance for layer-growth uniformity. The AIN layer thickness can be controlled with an accuracy of +/- 1.3% on 2 in. wafers. The low-temperature cathodoluminescence spectrum of the AIN epitaxial material is strongly dominated by the intense near band-gap deep UV emission at about 208 nm.
The hot-wall metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) concept has been applied to the growth of AlxGa1-xN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) device heterostructures on 2 inch 4H-SiC wafers. Due to the small vertical and horizontal temperature gradients inherent to the hot-wall MOCVD concept the variations of all properties of a typical HEMT heterostructure are very small over the wafer: GaN buffer layer thickness of 1.83 μm±1%, Al content of the AlxGa1-xN barrier of 27.7±0.1%, AlxGa1-xN barrier thickness of 25 nm±4%, sheet carrier density of 1.05×1013 cm-2±4%, pinch-off voltage of -5.3 V±3%, and sheet resistance of 449 Ω±1%.
We report on the cathodoluminescence (CL) of nominally undoped semi-insulating GaN layers grown by hot-wall metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) at a threefold increase of the growth rate limited by the TMGa flow. The growth kinetics is such, that C is the only background impurity in the layers with controllably increasing concentration from 5 x 10(16) to 6 x 10(17) cm(-3), while other background impurities, H. O and Si, are essentially at the SIMS detection levels. The hot-wall MOCVD is not an ordinary approach to GaN growth process and this study corroborates a more perceptive outlook on the C incorporation in GaN and any potential C-incorporation-mediated luminescence, including the observed here blue luminescence (BL) at similar to 417 nm, and the yellow luminescence (YL) with shifting peak position towards shorter wavelengths, similar to 555-543-525 nm.
Aluminum nitride (AlN) films were grown on off-axis, Si-terminated 4H-SiC substrates by hot-wall CVD and sublimation techniques. The films were investigated by Infrared reflectance, Optical microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis and Cathodoluminescence in a Scanning Electron Microscope with respect to their thickness, morphological, compositional and luminescence properties, in order to examine the influence of the growth cell pressure in either of the two deposition methods. Good quality thick AlN films were obtained by hot-wall CVD at temperature of 1200degreesC and reduced pressure of 100 mbar as reflected in the near stoichiometric N/Al ratio in these layers and in the appearance of the characteristic AlN near band edge emission. The AlN sublimation grown films at temperature of 2100degreesC suffered from island growth irrespective of the background pressure. The supersaturation conditions that affect strongly the growth mode became more favorable when the temperature was reduced to 1900degreesC.
Direct impact of H2 and N2 diluents on the metal-organic-chemical-vapor-deposition gas-phase chemistry in M(CH3)3/NH3 (M = Al, Ga, In) systems is identified in the framework of Density Functional Theory in terms of cohesive energy differences. While both diluents destabilize model reaction species, i.e. adducts, transition states and chain complexes, the effect is particularly strong with respect to N2 in the Al(CH3)3/NH3 system, and can be a factor to restrain the expansion of chain complexes that deplete the gas-phase from precursors. Theoretical results are supported by experimental evidences of higher growth rate and superior optical properties of AlN grown in N2 vs. H2 diluent. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
We have implemented graphite, graphite-tantalum (Ta), and Ta growth environment to the sublimation epitaxy of aluminum nitride (AlN) and have studied development, morphological, and cathodoluminescence emission properties of AlN crystallites. Three apparently different types of crystallites form in the three different types of growth environment, which presumably manifests the relationship between crystallite-habit-type and impurities. Comparison between the cathodoluminescence spectra reveals certain dynamics in the incorporation into AlN of the main residual dopants, oxygen and carbon, when the growth environment changes. At high temperatures, in addition to Al and N2, which constitute the vapor over AlN, vapor molecules of CN, NO, Al2C, and many more can be present in the vapor from which AlN grows and both oxygen and carbon can be incorporated into AlN in varying ratios. Involving calculations of the cohesive energy per atom of such vapor molecules and also of Ta containing molecules, we have considered possible mechanisms how oxygen and carbon get incorporated into AlN and how this kinetics interferes with the growth environment. The positive effect of Ta consists in the marked reduction of residual oxygen and carbon impurities in the vapor from which AlN is growing. However, on the account of this reduction, the overall composition of the vapor changes. We speculate that during AlN nucleation stage small impurity levels may be beneficial in order to provide a better balance between the AlN crystallites development and impurity incorporation issues. We have shown that some impurity containing vapor molecules are acting as essential transport agents and suppliers of nitrogen for the AlN growth. © 2004 American Institute of Physics.
We report on a new approach to MOCVD growth of GaN, i.e. hot-wall MOCVD, and its application to homoepitaxy on GaN substrates. The quality of the epilayers is examined by photoluminescence (PL). Homoepitaxially hot-wall MOCVD grown GaN layers show (1) intense PL free-exciton emissions relative to the intensity of the principal bound-exciton emission and (2) homogeneous cathodoluminescence emission within the terraces developed during the step-flow growth. Impurity concentrations in the material are measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). (c) 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
The interface chemistry of WN/4H–SiC structures has been studied by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XPS investigations have been performed on as deposited, 800°C and 1200°C annealed (4 min) samples. The as deposited and 800°C annealed samples are characterized by chemically inert interfaces. Complete nitrogen out-diffusion from the WN layer, significant carbon diffusion into the contact layer, tungsten carbide and tungsten silicide formation occur during the 1200°C annealing process. The 800°C annealed WN/4H–SiC contacts are found to be of a Schottky type with a barrier height of 0.91 eV. The Schottky barrier height and the ideality factor show no significant changes during 100 h storage at 500°C under nitrogen and during operation at increasing temperature up to 350°C in air.
The interface chemistry of nickel and tungsten based contacts on SiC has been investigated by XPS on as-deposited samples and after contact formation. After annealing at 950 °C for 10 min, Ni/SiC and Ni/Si/SiC ohmic contacts are formed due to the chemical reactions, as a result of which Ni2Si appears. However, Ni/Si (instead of pure Ni) deposition on SiC leads to modification of the diffusion processes and formation of a contact layer free of carbon. After annealing at 1200 °C for 4 min, the WN (W)/SiC systems are characterized by strong interface reactions resulting in W5Si3 and W2C formation in the contact layer. The 800 °C annealed WN/SiC contact is characterized by a chemically inert interface, and is found to be of a Schottky type.
Annealed W (WN)/4H–SiC interfaces have been compared on the basis of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies. The 1200°C annealed W (WN)/4H–SiC structures are characterized by intense interface reactions leading to tungsten carbide and tungsten silicide formation in the contact layers. The 800°C annealed WN/4H–SiC structure exhibits a chemically inert interface, and the 800°C annealed WN/4H–SiC contact is found to be of a Schottky type with a barrier height of 0.94 eV and an ideality coefficient of 1.09.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to investigate the chemical reactions and diffusion processes at Ti/Au/Pt/Ti/SiC interfaces for as deposited and annealed at 575°C for 10 min structures. The distribution of the elements and the change in their chemical state has been studied. The XP spectra indicate titanium carbide and platinum silicides formation at the SiC interface, which is preceded by the dissociation of SiC due to the reactivity of Ti at 575°C. TiC represents a barrier to the further diffusion of Ti to the SiC bulk and the Ti layer makes the diffusion of Pt into SiC difficult. The element distribution of the annealed structure demonstrates that Pt has diffused through almost the whole gold layer to the surface, an alloy of the two metals being formed.
We report on the hot-wall MOCVD growth of Mg-doped AlxGa1-xN layers with an Al content as high as x similar to 0.85. After subjecting the layers to post-growth in-situ annealing in nitrogen in the growth reactor, a room temperature resistivity of 7 k Omega cm was obtained indicating an enhanced p-type conductivity compared to published data for AlxGa1-xN layers with a lower Al content of x similar to 0.70 and a room temperature resistivity of about 10 k Omega cm. It is believed that the enhanced p-type conductivity is a result of reduced compensation by native defects through growth conditions enabled by the distinct hot-wall MOCVD system.
Issues of major relevance to the n-type conductivity of Al0.77Ga0.23N associated with Si and O incorporation, their shallow donor or deep donor level behavior, and carrier compensation are elucidated by allying (i) study of Si and O incorporation kinetics at high process temperature and low growth rate, and (ii) electron paramagnetic resonance measurements. The Al0.77Ga0.23N composition correlates to that Al content for which a drastic reduction of the conductivity of AlxGa1−xN is commonly reported. We note the incorporation of carbon, the role of which for the transport properties of AlxGa1−xN has not been widely discussed.
Herein, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of GaN layers doped with Mg atoms to the recognized optimum level of [Mg] approximate to 2 x 10(19) cm(-3) is performed. In a sequence of MOCVD runs, operational conditions, including temperature and flow rate of precursors, are maintained except for intentionally larger flows of hydrogen carrier gas fed into the reactor. By employing the largest hydrogen flow of 25 slm in this study, the performance of the as-grown Mg-doped GaN layers is certified by a room-temperature hole concentration of p approximate to 2 x 10(17) cm(-3) in the absence of any thermal activation treatment. Experimental evidence is delivered that the large amounts of hydrogen during the MOCVD growth can regulate the incorporation of the Mg atoms into GaN in a significant way so that MgH complex can coexist with a dominant and evidently electrically active isolated Mg-Ga acceptor.
In the present work we investigated the structural properties of 6H-SiC homoepitaxial layers utilizing microhardness and X-ray characterization techniques. The growth was performed by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) under various growth conditions. The depth Knoop hardness profiles represent decreasing curves due to the indentation size effect. With load increasing the curves saturate reaching microhardness values comparable with the known Vickers ones. At about 0.4 μm beneath the layer surfaces the curves show small plateaus which may be attributed to structural inhomogeneity. This is suggested by X-ray diffraction spectra taken from the same samples, which contain additional peaks besides the typical ones for 6H-SiC.
The crystal structure and optical properties of thick (>100 nm) AlN layers grown by hot-wall metalorganic chemical vapor deposition are characterized by infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry, cathodoluminescence, and transmission electron microscopy. The choice of substrates among the available SiC wafer polytype modifications (4H/6H) and misorientations (on-/off-axis cut) is found to determine the AlN defect interaction, stress homogeneity, and luminescence. The growth of thick AlN layers benefits by performing the epitaxy on off-axis substrates because, due to stacking faults, the propagation of threading defects in AlN layers is stopped in a narrow interface region. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.
In order to study the development of individual AlN crystallites, sublimation epitaxy of AlN was performed on 4H-SiC, off-axis substrates in an inductively heated setup. Growth process variables like temperature, extrinsic nitrogen pressure and time were changed in an attempt to favor the lateral growth of individual AlN crystallites and thus open possibilities to prepare continuous patterns. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy and cathodoluminescence were used to obtain plan-view and cross-sectional images of the grown patterns and to study their morphology and structural features. The growth at 1900°C/200mbar results in AlN pattern consisting of individual single wurzite AlN crystallites with plate-like shape aligned along [1 1̄ 0 0] direction. The only defects these AlN crystallites contain are threading dislocations, some of which are terminated by forming half-loops. Because of the uniform distribution of the crystallites and their high structural perfection, this AlN pattern could represent interest as a template for bulk AlN growth. Alternative growth approaches to AlN crystallite formation are possible resulting in variation of the final AlN pattern structure. From a viewpoint of obtaining continuous patterns, the more favorable growth conditions involve applying of increased extrinsic gas pressure, 700 mbar in our case. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
In this study we report the successful growth of AlN and AlN/GaN on SiC substrates in a MOCVD process based on a hot-wall susceptor design. Different features of AlN growth are established depending on the total reactor pressure, temperature, off-cut SiC substrate orientation and V-to-III gas-flow ratio. The feasibility of the hot-wall MOCVD concept is demonstrated by the performance of AlN/GaN structures with state-of-the-art properties with strong potential for further optimization. A narrower X-ray rocking curve over the asymmetric 10.4 than the symmetric 00.2 reflection clearly underlines the high overall crystal quality of the GaN layers on AlN buffers grown in this type of MOCVD reactor.
Knoop microhardness of 6H-SiC layers grown by sublimation epitaxy was investigated. The microhardness-load curves for all of the samples were measured and then used to extract the load-independent microhardness values. The relationships of these values to the growth time and growth rate were studied. The microhardness-depth profiles indicated that the layer/substrate interface region had a microhardness value that differed significantly from that of both the epi-layer and the substrate.
Investigation on residual Al, B, and N co-doping of 4H-SiC epitaxial layers is reported. The layers were produced by sublimation epitaxy in Ta growth cell environment at different growth temperatures and characterized by secondary ion mass spectrometry. The vapor interaction with Ta was considered through calculations of cohesive energies of several Si-, Al-, B-, and N-containing vapor molecules and also of diatomic Ta-X molecules. An analysis of kinetic mechanisms responsible for impurity incorporation is performed. Among residuals, B exhibits a stronger incorporation dependence on temperature and growth at lower temperatures can favor B decrease in the layers. Under the growth conditions in this study (Ta environment and presence of attendant Al and N), B incorporation is assisted by Si2C vapor molecule. Boron tends to occupy carbon sites at higher temperatures, i.e. higher growth rates. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.