Group III-nitride materials, gallium nitride (GaN), aluminum nitride (AlN) and indium nitride (InN) have direct band gaps with band gap energies ranging from the infrared (InN) to the ultraviolet (GaN) and to the deep ultraviolet (AlN) wave-lengths, covering the entire spectral range from 0.7 eV to 6.2 eV upon alloying. The invention of the GaN-based blue LEDs, for which the Nobel prize in Physics was awarded in 2014, has opened up avenues for exploration of III-Nitride mate-rial and device technologies, and has inspired generations of researchers in the semiconductor field. Group III-nitrides have also been demonstrated to be among the most promising semiconductors for next generation of efficient high-power, high-temperature and high-frequency electronic devices. 

The need to build a sustainable and efficient energy system motivates the development of vertical GaN transistors and diodes for applications with power ratings of 50-150 kW, e.g., in electric vehicles and industrial inverters. The key is to grow GaN layers with low concentration of defects (impurities and dislocations), which enables an expansion in both voltage and current ratings and reduction of cost. Despite intense investigations and impressive advances in the field, defects are still a major problem which hinders exploiting the full potential of GaN in power electronics. 

The aim of this thesis is to perform an in-depth investigation of the growth of GaN and AlGaN under several nucleation mechanisms provided by different underlying substrates. In that regard, four different epitaxial approaches based on different nucleation schemes have been studied: (i) growth of planar GaN layers trough NWs reformation. We investigated GaN layers with different thicknesses on reformed GaN NW templates and highlight this approach as an alternative to the expensive HVPE GaN substrates. The sapphire used as a substrate limits to some extent the reduction of threading dislocations, however, the resulting GaN material presents smooth surfaces and thermal conductivity close to the value for bulk GaN. (ii) Homoepitaxial GaN growth. We developed a hot-wall MOCVD epitaxial approach that enables low surface roughness and appropriate impurity levels for advanced vertical power device architectures. A comprehensive picture of GaN homoepitaxy on different GaN surfaces, GaN templates on SiC and HVPE GaN substrates, is established on the basis of experimental results and thermodynamic considerations. (iii) GaN growth on GaN NWs templates by hot-wall MOCVD resulted in an atomically flat smooth surface with reduction of threading dislocations when the optimum annealing conditions have been employed. (iv) Heteroepitaxial growth of low Al composition n-Al_xGa_1-xN on SiC substrates revealed 700 nm crack-free epi-layers for an Al composition up to 12%. The highest mobility corresponds to an Al content of 6.5% where we also get a reduction in screw and edge dislocations. The results show the potential application of Al_xGa_1-xN(x= 0 - 0.12) as the active material for drift layers. 

Some of the epitaxial approaches developed in this thesis have been already implemented in the growth of power devices such as quasi-vertical GaN FinFETs on SiC substrates and fully-vertical GaN FinFETs on HVPE GaN substrates. 

Grupp III-nitrider är halvledare med direkta bandgap där bandgapsenergierna spänner från det infraröda till djupt ultravioletta banden. Tillräknade i den gruppen är galliumnitrid (GaN), aluminiumnitrid (AlN) samt indiumnitrid (InN) som tillsammans kan realisera alla bandgapsenergier från 0.7 eV (InN) till 6.2 eV (AlN) genom legering. Utvecklingen av GaN-baserade blå LED:er, som tilldelades 2014 års Nobelpris i fysik, har öppnat många nya dörrar inom III-nitridforskning och skapat många nya tillämpningar av halvledarmaterial. Till exempel har grupp III-nitrider påvisats mycket lovande som nästa generations högeffekts- och högfrekvenskomponenter inom elektroniken. Efterfrågan på hållbara och effektiva energisystem har drivit utvecklingen av vertikala GaN-transistorer och dioder för tillämpning inom 50-150 kW omfånget, så som elektriska fordon och industriella växelriktare. Nyckeln ligger i att växa lager av GaN med låg konsentration av defekter (orenheter och dislokations), som både kan öka spänningsfönstret och strömstyrkan och samtidigt reducera kostnaden. Defekter har däremot varit svåra att kontrollera och trots mänger av framsteg är det fortfarande den stora utmaningen för att fullt kunna utnyttja potentialen av GaN inom elektronik.

Målet i denna avhandling är att utföra fördjupade undersökningar av GaN- och AlGaN-tillväxt vid olika betingade tillväxtmekanismer som funktion av tillväxtsubstrat. Fyra olika epitaxiella tillvägagångsätt har studerats med tillhörande nukleationsmekanismer. (i) Tillväxt av plana GaN-lager genom nanotråd-reformation. Vi har undersökt GaN med olika tjocklekar på omformade GaN nanotråd-mallar och påvisar att metoden är ett alternativ till dyra HVPE GaN-substrat. Safiren som används som substrat begränsar till viss del en reducering av slingrande dislokationer men den resulterande GaN-ytan är jämn och har en termisk ledningsförmåga nära GaN i bulk. (ii) Homoepitaxiell GaN-tillväxt. Vi utvecklade en hetväggs MOCVD-epitaxi som möjliggör en låg ytojämnhet och en låg nivå av orenheter för avancerade vertikala högeffektsarkitekturer. En omfattande ter-modynamisk och experimentell bild har etablerats av GaN homoepitaxi på olika GaN-ytor, GaN-mallar på SiC samt på HVPE GaN-substrat. (iii) GaN tillväxt på GaN nanotrådmallar via hetväggs MOCVD resulterar i en atomärt jämn yta med en reducering av slingande dislokationer när optimerad glödgning har utförts. (iv) Heteroepitaxiell tillväxt av låg-nivå Al inblandning i n-Al_xGa_1-xN på SiC-substrat leder till 700 nm sprickfria epi-lager, för Al-inblandning upp till 12%. Den högsta uppmätta mobiliteten ficks vid 6.5% Al där också en reducering av skruv- och kant- dislokationer noterades. Resultaten visar på potentialen för n-Al_xGa_1-xN (x = 0 - 0.12) som aktiva material i driftlager.

En del av de epitaxiella tillvägagångssätten som utvecklats i denna avhandling har redan implementerats i tillväxt av högeffektskomponenter så som quasi-vertikala GaN FinFETs på SiC och vertikala GaN FinFETs på HVPE GaN-substrat.  

In this work, we present the fabrication and investigation of the properties of quasi-vertical gallium nitride (GaN) fin field effect transistors (FinFETs) on silicon carbide (SiC) substrates and the influence of a postgate metallization annealing (PMA). The devices reveal low subthreshold swings (SSs) down to around 70 mV/dec. For a 1- μm -thick drift layer, a low ON-resistance below 0.05 mΩ⋅ cm2 (normalized on the fin area) and a breakdown voltage of 60 V were obtained. Devices with included PMA show a decreased threshold voltage and ON-resistance and by several orders of magnitude reduced gate leakage current compared to non-annealed devices. The devices show ohmic contact behavior and slightly negative threshold voltages, which indicates normally- ON behavior. The effective and field-effect mobility of the fin channel was obtained with a modeled carrier concentration and reveal to around 70 and 13 cm2/(Vs) at high gate voltages, which is in a good comparison to so far reported similar devices.

Group-III nitride materials, gallium nitride (GaN), aluminum nitride (AlN) and indium nitride (InN) have direct band gaps with band gap energies ranging from the infrared (InN) to the ultraviolet (GaN) and to the deep ultraviolet (AlN) wavelengths and covering the entire spectral range from 0.7 eV to 6.2 eV upon alloying. The invention of the GaN-based blue LEDs, for which the Nobel prize in Physics was awarded in 2014, has opened up avenues for exploration of IIINitride material and device technologies and has inspired generations of researchers in the semiconductor field. Group-III nitrides have also been demonstrated to be among the most promising semiconductors for next generation of efficient high-power, high-temperature and high-frequency electronic devices.

The need to build a sustainable and efficient energy system motivates the development of vertical GaN transistors and diodes for applications with power ratings of 50-150 kW, e.g., in electric vehicles and industrial inverters. The key is to grow GaN layers with low concentration of defects (impurities and dislocations), which enables an expansion in both voltage and current ratings and reduction of cost. Despite intense investigations and impressive advances in the field, defects are still a major problem hindering exploiting the full potential of GaN in power electronics. This Licentiate thesis focuses on the development of two different epitaxial approaches in MOCVD for reducing dislocation densities in GaN with controlled doping for power device applications: i) growth of planar GaN layers trough NWs reformation, which can be further exploited as templates for a subsequent growth of thick drift layers and ii) homoepitaxial GaN growth. Special attention is put on understanding homoepitaxial growth under different nucleation schemes and thermal stability of GaN. We have established conditions in homoepitaxy to deliver state-of-the-art GaN material with low impurity levels combined with a reasonable growth rate suitable for growth of thick drift layers.

The results are summarized in two papers: In Paper I we investigate GaN layers with different thicknesses on reformed GaN NW templates and highlight this approach as an alternative to the expensive GaN HVPE substrates. The sapphire used as a substrate limits to some extent the reduction of threading dislocations, however, the resulting GaN material presents smooth surfaces and thermal conductivity close to the bulk value, which suggests the potential of this approach to be integrated in GaN development as an active material for power devices on various substrates. In Paper II extensive study of homoepitaxial GaN growth by hot-wall MOCVD is presented together with results on the thermal stability of GaN under typical conditions used in our growth reactor. Understanding the evolution of GaN surface under different gas compositions and temperatures allows us to predict optimum homoepitaxial conditions. Analysis in the framework of Ga supersaturation of epilayers simultaneously grown on GaN templates and on GaN HVPE substrates reveals that residual strain and screw dislocation densities affect GaN nucleation and growth and lead to distinctively different morphologies on GaN templates and native substrates, respectively. The established comprehensive picture provides guidance for designing strategies for growth conditions optimization in homoepitaxy. We demonstrate homoepitaxial GaN-on-GaN grown under optimum growth conditions with state-of-the-art smooth surface with an rms value of 0.021 nm and an average TDD of 1.4·10⁶ cm_-2 which provide good basis for augmenting power device structures.Future work will be focused on GaN NWs reformation on different substrates, p- and n-type doping of homoepitaxial GaN with impurity control and the fabrication of pn power diode device structures for further processing and assessment by C₃NiT partners.

Thick GaN layers with a low concentration of defects are the key to enable next-generation vertical power electronic devices. Here, we explore hot-wall metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) for the development of GaN homoepitaxy. We propose a new approach to grow high quality homoepitaxial GaN in N2-rich carrier gas and at a higher supersaturation as compared to heteroepitaxy. We develop a low temperature GaN as an optimum nucleation scheme based on the evolution and thermal stability of the GaN surface under different gas compositions and temperatures. Analysis in the framework of nucleation theory of homoepitaxial layers simultaneously grown on GaN templates on SiC and on hydride vapor phase epitaxy GaN substrates is presented. We show that residual strain and screw dislocation densities affect GaN nucleation and subsequent growth leading to distinctively different morphologies of GaN homoepitaxial layers grown on GaN templates and native substrates, respectively. The established comprehensive picture provides a guidance for designing strategies for growth conditions optimization in GaN homoepitaxy. GaN with atomically flat and smooth epilayer surfaces with a root-mean-square roughness value as low as 0.049 nm and low background carbon concentration of 5.3 x 1015 cm-3 has been achieved. It is also shown that there is no generation of additional dislocations during homoepitaxial growth. Thus, our results demonstrate the potential of the hot-wall MOCVD technique to deliver high-quality GaN material for vertical power devices.

Thermal conductivity of AlxGa1-xN layers with 0 <= x <= 0.96 and variable thicknesses is systematically studied by combined thermoreflectance measurements and a modified Callaway model. We find a reduction in the thermal conductivity of AlxGa1-xN by more than one order of magnitude compared to that of GaN, which indicates a strong effect of phonon-alloy scattering. It is shown that the short-mean free path phonons are strongly scattered, which leads to a major contribution of the long-mean free path phonons to the thermal conductivity. In thin layers, the long-mean free path phonons become efficiently scattered by the boundaries, resulting in a further decrease in the thermal conductivity. Also, an asymmetry of thermal conductivity as a function of Al content is experimentally observed and attributed to the mass difference between Ga and Al host atoms.