Growth of GaN on Buffer Layers with Different Polarities by Hydride Vapor-Phase Epitaxy

This paper reports the properties of GaN grown by the hydride vapor-phase epitaxy (HVPE) technique on buffer layers with different polarities. The N-, mixed-, and Ga-polarity buffer layers were grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) on sapphire (0001) substrates; then, thicker GaN epilayers were grown on these by HVPE. The surface morphology, structural, and optical properties of these HVPE-GaN epilayers were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The results indicate that the crystallinity of these HVPE-GaN epilayers depends on the polarity of the buffer layer.     

GaN基材料及其外延生长技术研究

介绍了GaN基材料的基本特性、三种主要外延生长技术(MOCVD、MBE、HVPE)、衬底材料的选择及缓冲层技术;分析得出目前存在的GaN体单晶技术不完善、外延成本高、衬底缺陷及接触电阻大等主要问题制约了研究的进一步发展;指出今后的研究重点是完善GaN体单晶材料的生长工艺,以利于深入研究GaN的物理特性及有效地解决衬底问题,研究缓冲层的材料、厚度、组分等以提高GaN薄膜质量。     

LPE HgCdTe on sapphire status and advancements

With the evolution of infrared arrays to over four million pixels, larger formats have demanded higher quality mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) wafers. Since single defects can easily degrade multiple diodes, high operability requires very homogeneous and nearly flawless epitaxial surfaces. Subsequent photolithography and hybridization also demand unprecedented levels of substrate flatness and low imperfections. To consistently and reliably produce large area arrays, Insaco Inc., The Boeing Company, and Rockwell International Corporation have developed major quality improvement procedures which address all three components of the infrared material wafer architecture. Centered on the producible alternative to cadmium telluride for epitaxy (PACE) process, technological advancements encompassed sapphire substrates, organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE), cadmium telluride (CdTe) buffer layer growth, and liquid phase epitaxial (LPE) mercury cadmium telluride growth. Processed material from these runs mated to Conexant^™ fabricated multiplexers have successfully produced 1024 1024 and the first 2048 2048 IR short-wave (2.5 m at 80 K) hybrid focal plane arrays. Operabilities in these implanted n-on-p junction devices reach 99.98% with near 70% quantum efficiency in the astronomy ‘K’ band (2.2–2.4 microns).     

大幅宽多谱段高光谱红外探测器研究

报道了基于分子束外延(Molecular Beam Epitaxy, MBE)碲镉汞(Mercury Cadmium Telluride, MCT)技术的大幅宽、多谱段、大像元高光谱红外探测器的最新研究进展。采用MBE技术制备出高质量MCT材料;采用成熟的n-on-p技术路线制备探测芯片,并针对特殊形状的大像元进行了优化;高光谱专用读出电路设计针对短波、窄谱段、小信号等典型特征进行了优化,并针对光谱应用加入行增益可调等功能设计。测试结果表明,组件基本性能良好,有效像元率大于99.5%,平均量子效率优于70%。     

Growth of long wavelength infrared MCT emitters on conductive substrates

Uncooled operation of Auger suppressed fully doped mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) devices designed by Ashley and Elliott¹ and grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) by Maxey et al.² has been demonstrated. These devices also demonstrate efficient negative luminescent emission in the long wavelength infrared (LWIR) spectra.³ However, to operate a large area device (>1 cm²) requires a large current (∼10 A), and consequently, it is critical that the series resistance is minimized. To increase optical efficiency, deep optical concentrators are needed. Similar InSb molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) devices utilize a highly doped InSb substrate which allows a conduction path into the substrate with reduced series resistance and acts as an optical window (due to Moss-Burstein shift) allowing transmission of the 6 m IR emission. A suitable high conductivity substrate for MCT emitter devices is required to have a sheet resistivity of <1 /□. The conventional MCT epitaxy substrates are CdZnTe and GaAs. High conductivity cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) was not found to be commercially available. Although high conductivity, n-type GaAs is available, the maximum doping is limited by the degree of free carrier absorption in the LWIR which would reduce the potential emitter efficiency. This paper describes a novel investigation into achieving working LW emitter devices with deep mesas in which the current is carried by the GaAs substrate. The key issue which had to be addressed was obtaining conduction between the II/VI and III/V materials. A variety of interface designs was investigated but the best results were achieved by minimizing the band-gap of the interfacial II/VI MCT and optimizing the properties of the top region of the GaAs substrate.     

Influence of Substrate Orientation on the Growth of HgCdTe by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

An empirical study is reported, wherein HgCdTe was deposited simultaneously on multiple CdZnTe substrates of different orientations by molecular beam epitaxy. These orientations included the following vicinal surfaces: (115)B, (113)B, (112)B, and (552)B. Additionally, growth on (111)B was explored. Growth conditions found to be nearly optimalfor the standard (112)B orientation were selected. Through a series of growth runs, substrate temperature was varied, and the physical properties of the resulting HgCdTe epilayers were measured. These measurements included Nomarski microscopy, infrared transmission, x-ray diffraction, and defect decoration etching. The properties of HgCdTe epilayers as a function of temperature were roughly similar for all vicinal surfaces. Namely, as the temperature increased, the dislocation density decreased. At some critical temperature, the density of void defects increased dramatically. This critical temperature varied with orientation, the (115)B exhibiting the lowest critical temperature and the (112)B and (552)B exhibiting the highest. The (115)B, (113)B, and (112)B orientations exhibited “needlelike” defects on the as-grown HgCdTe surface. The density of these defects decreased with increasing temperature. The (552)B surface exhibited no such defects and growth behavior nearly identical to the (112)B growthsurface.     

碲镉汞外延材料缺陷的研究进展

通过对近年来的部分国外文献进行归纳分析,介绍了碲镉汞(MCT)缺陷研究的现状.与其他类似的半导体相比,MCT以其显著的优势成为红外焦平面(FPA)器件中最为常用的窄带隙材料.MCT外延层中的缺陷可能会影响光敏元的性能,降低MCT焦平面器件的可用性.衬底类型、衬底晶向和生长期间的衬底温度等因素对MCT外延层的质量有明显影...     

碲镉汞表面钝化研究进展

碲镉汞(MCT)红外探测器近些年的发展非常迅速。随着相关技术的不断进步,对探测器的要求也越来越高。MCT探测器的表面对杂质、缺陷、损伤、温度等因素非常敏感,而器件的很多性能直接由其表面的性质决定,因此MCT材料表面的钝化被看成是红外探测器制备的关键工艺之一。为了提高器件表面的稳定性,最常用的方法就是对MCT材料表面进行钝化处理。主要介绍了几种常见的MCT材料表面钝化方法,然后结合国内外文献重点介绍了常见的介质膜钝化方法,并对以后的工作进行了展望。     

以金属为缓冲层在Si(111)上分子束外延GaN及其表征

用电子束蒸发方法在Si(111)衬底上蒸发了Au/Cr和Au/Ti/Al/Ti 两种金属缓冲层,然后在金属缓冲层上用气源分子束外延(GSMBE)生长GaN. 两种缓冲层的表面都比较平整和均匀,都是具有Au(111)面择优取向的立方相Au层. 在Au/Cr/Si(111)上MBE生长的GaN,生长结束后出现剥离. 在Au/Ti/Al/Ti/Si(111)上无AlN缓冲层直接生长GaN,得到的是多晶GaN;先在800℃生长一层AlN缓冲层,然后在710℃生长GaN,得到的是沿GaN(0001)面择优取向的六方相GaN. 将Au/Ti/Al/Ti/Si(111)在800℃下退火20min,金属层收缩为网状结构,并且成为多晶,不再具有Au(111)方向择优取向.     

Si衬底上热壁外延制备GaAs单晶薄膜材料

报道了采用热壁外延（ＨＷＥ）技术,在Ｓｉ表面生长ＧａＡｓ薄膜。先通过活化剂活化Ｓｉ表面,再采取两步生长法外延ＧａＡｓ单晶薄膜,最后进行断续多层循环退火（ＩＭＣＡ）。经电子探针（ＥＰＭＡ）、Ｒａｍａｎ光谱、Ｈａｌｌ测量和荧光（ＰＬ）光谱测试分析,证实在Ｓｉ表面获得了的４μｍ厚的ＧａＡｓ单晶薄膜。     

硅缓冲层提高选区外延生长硅基锗薄膜质量

研究了Si缓冲层对选区外延Si基Ge薄膜的晶体质量的影响。利用超高真空化学气相沉积系统,结合低温Ge缓冲层和选区外延技术,通过插入Si缓冲层,在Si/SiO_2图形衬底上选择性外延生长Ge薄膜。采用X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、原子力显微镜(AFM)表征了Ge薄膜的晶体质量和表面形貌。测试结果表明,选区外延Ge薄膜的晶体质量比无图形衬底外延得到薄膜的晶体质量要高;选区外延Ge薄膜前插入Si缓冲层得到Ge薄膜具有较低的XRD曲线半高宽以及表面粗糙度,位错密度低至5.9×10~5/cm^2,且薄膜经过高低温循环退火后,XRD曲线半高宽和位错密度进一步降低。通过插入Si缓冲层可提高选区外延Si基Ge薄膜的晶体质量,该技术有望应用于Si基光电集成。     

VLP／CVD低温硅外延

研究了VLP／CVD低温硅外延生长技术,利用自制的VLP／CVD设备,在低温条件下,成功地研制出晶格结构完好的硅同质结外延材料。扩展电阻、X射线衍射谱和电化学分布研究表明,在低温下（T＜800℃）应用VLP／CVD技术,可以生长结构完好的硅外延材料,且材料生长界面的杂质浓度分布更陡峭。     

分子束外延In掺杂硅基碲镉汞研究

利用分子束外延(Molecular Beam Epitaxy, MBE)系统生长了In掺杂硅基碲镉汞(Mercury Cadmium Telluride, MCT)材料。通过控制In源温度获得了不同掺杂水平的高质量MCT外延片。二次离子质谱仪(Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer, SIMS)测试结果表明,In掺杂浓度在1×10¹⁵～2×10¹⁶ cm^-3之间。表征了不同In掺杂浓度对MCT外延层位错的影响。发现位错腐蚀坑形态以三角形为主(沿<■>方向排列),且位错密度与未掺杂样品基本相当。对不同In掺杂浓度的材料进行汞饱和低温处理后,样品的电学性能均有所改善。结果表明,In掺杂能够提高材料的均匀性,从而获得较高的电子迁移率。     

Twinning‐, Polytypism‐, and Polarity‐Induced Morphological Modulation in Nonplanar Nanostructures with van der Waals Epitaxy

Twinning, polytypism, and polarity are important aspects in nanostructural growth since their presence can affect various properties of the as‐grown products. The morphology of nanostructures grown via van der Waals epitaxy is shown to be strongly influenced by the twinning density and the presence of polytypism within the nanostructures, while the growth direction is driven by the compound polarity. With ZnTe as the model material, vertically aligned nanorods are successfully produced with variable cross‐section and branched crystals (tripods and tetrapods) on only a single type of substrate. Van der Waals epitaxy contributes by relaxing the lattice‐mismatch requirements for epitaxial growth and by enabling a variety of crystal planes in the initial stages of the growth to be interfaced to the substrate, regardless of the polarity of the epitaxial material. These results may provide more flexibility in tuning rationally the morphology of epitaxial nanostructures into other shapes with higher complexity by routine adjustment of growth environment.     

X-ray rocking curve analysis of ion implanted mercury cadmium telluride

Junction formation by ion implantation is a critical step in producing high quality infrared focal plane arrays in mercury cadmium telluride (MCT). We have analyzed the structural properties of MCT implanted with B at doses of 10¹⁴ and 10¹⁵ cm⁻² using double and triple crystal x-ray diffraction (DCD and TCD) to monitor the disorder and strain of the implanted region as a function of processing conditions. TCD (333) reflections show that a distinct tensile peak is produced by the high dose implant while the low dose implant shows only a low angle shoulder on the substrate peak. A preliminary association of the low angle shoulder with point defects has been made since no extended defects have been observed in the low dose range. For the high dose implant, extended defect formation has been reported and may be responsible for the tensile peak. After annealing, the low angle shoulder on the low dose implant has disappeared, while the high dose implant exhibits an increase in the tensile strain from 6.5 × 10⁻⁴ to 9.3 × 10⁻⁴ after 24 h of annealing and then decreases in tensile strain to 7.3 × 10⁻⁴ after 48 h of annealing. It is believed the changes in strain are associated with the Oswald ripening and dissolution of extended defects, which has been observed during annealing of ion implanted Si.     

Metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxial growth of HgCdTe device heterostructures on three-inch-diameter substrates

A new metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxial (MOVPE) reactor-cell design has been developed to grow on 3-in.-diameter substrates. This was required to produce uniform, fully doped heterostructures needed for array producibility and wafer-scale processing compatibility. The reactor has demonstrated epitaxial growth of HgCdTe (MCT) with good morphology onto both GaAs and GaAs on Si wafers. The density of surface-growth defects, typical of MOVPE growth, has been reduced to <5 cm⁻² at a sufficient yield to make the production of low cluster-defect, two-dimensional (2-D) arrays possible. The new horizontal reactor cell uses substrate rotation to achieve improved uniformity and is able to incorporate substrates up to 4-in. diameter. Good compositional and thickness uniformity was achieved on epilayers grown on 3-in.-diameter, low-cost GaAs and GaAs on Si wafers. Sufficient uniformity has been achieved to produce 12 sites of full-TV format 2-D arrays per slice. To yield the benefits of heterostructure design, the MCT epilayers also needed to demonstrate efficient and uniform activation of both arsenic (acceptor) and iodine (donor) dopants. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and Hall assessment showed that the uniformity of As and I doping was ±10%. Fully doped heterostructures have been grown to investigate the device performance in the 3–5 μm and 8–12 μm infrared bands. The 2-D array performance has shown that at 180 K near-background-limited performance (BLIP) diodes have been produced in the 3–5 μm band.     

HgCdTe growth on (552) oriented CdZnTe by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

We report the growth of HgCdTe on (552)B CdZnTe by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The (552) plane is obtained by 180 rotation of the (211) plane about the [111] twist axis. Both are 19.47 degrees from (111), but in opposite directions. HgCdTe grown on the (552)B-oriented CdZnTe has a growth rate similar to the (211)B, but the surface morphology is very different. The (552)B films exhibit no void defects, but do exhibit ∼40 μm size hillocks at densities of 10–50 cm⁻². The hillocks, however, are significantly flatter and shorter than those observed on (100) metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) HgCdTe films. For a 12–14 μm thick film the height of the highest point on the hillock is less than 0.75 μm. No twinning was observed by back-reflection Laue x-ray diffraction for (552)B HgCdTe films and the x-ray double crystal rocking curve widths are comparable to those obtained on (211)B films grown side-by-side and with similar alloy composition. Etch pit density (EPD) measurements show EPD values in the range of (0.6–5)×10⁵ cm⁻², again very similar to those currently observed in (211)B MOVPE HgCdTe. The transport properties and ease of dopant incorporation and activation are all comparable to those obtained in (211)B HgCdTe. Mid-wave infrared (MWIR) photodiode detector arrays were fabricated on (552)B HgCdTe films grown in the P-n-N device configuration (upper case denotes layers with wider bandgaps). Radiometric characterization at T=120–160 K show that the detectors have classical spectral response with a cutoff wavelength of 5.22 μm at 120 K, quantum efficiency ∼78%, and diffusion current is the dominant dark current mechanism near zero bias voltage. Overall, the results suggest that (552)B may be the preferred orientation for MOVPE growth of HgCdTe on CdZnTe to achieve improved operability in focal plane arrays.     

Direct growth of CdZnTe/Si substrates for large-area HgCdTe infrared focal plane arrays

Direct epitaxial growth of high-quality 100lCdZnTe on 3 inch diameter vicinal {100}Si substrates has been achieved using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE); a ZnTe initial layer was used to maintain the {100} Si substrate orientation. The properties of these substrates and associated HgCdTe layers grown by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) and subsequently processed long wavelength infrared (LWIR) detectors were compared directly with our related efforts using CdZnTe/ GaAs/Si substrates grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The MBE-grown CdZnTe layers are highly specular and have both excellent thickness and compositional uniformity. The x-ray full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the MBE-grown CdZnTe/Si increases with composition, which is a characteristic of CdZnTe grown by vapor phase epitaxy, and is essentially equivalent to our results obtained on CdZnTe/GaAs/Si. As we have previously observed, the x-ray FWHM of LPE-grown HgCdTe decreases, particularly for CdZnTe compositions near the lattice matching condition to HgCdTe; so far the best value we have achieved is 54 arc-s. Using these MBE-grown substrates, we have fabricated the first high-performance LWIR HgCdTe detectors and 256 x 256 arrays using substrates consisting of CdZnTe grown directly on Si without the use of an intermediate GaAs buffer layer. We find first that there is no significant difference between arrays fabricated on either CdZnTe/Si or CdZnTe/GaAs/Si and second that the results on these Si-based substrates are comparable with results on bulk CdZnTe substrates at 78K. Further improvements in detector performance on Si-based substrates require a decrease in the dislocation density.     

MBE growth of HgCdTe on silicon substrates for large format MWIR focal plane arrays

HgCdTe p-on-n double layer heterojunctions (DLHJs) for mid-wave infrared (MWIR) detector applications have been grown on 100 mm (4 inch) diameter (211) silicon substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The structural quality of these films is excellent, as demonstrated by x-ray rocking curves with full widths at half maximum (FWHMs) of 80–100 arcsec, and etch pit densities from 1 10⁶ to 7 10⁶ cm⁻². Morphological defect densities for these layers are generally less than 1000 cm⁻². Improving Hg flux coverage of the wafer during growth can reduce void defects near the edges of the wafers. Improved tellurium source designs have resulted in better temporal flux stability and a reduction of the center to edge x-value variation from 9% to only 2%. Photovoltaic MWIR detectors have been fabricated from some of these 100mm wafers, and the devices show performance at 140 K which is comparable to other MWIR detectors grown on bulk CdZnTe substrates by MBE and by liquid phase epitaxy.     

High-Performance LWIR MBE-Grown HgCdTe/Si Focal Plane Arrays

We have been actively pursuing the development of long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) HgCdTe grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on large-area silicon substrates. The current effort is focused on extending HgCdTe/Si technology to longer wavelengths and lower temperatures. The use of Si versus bulk CdZnTe substrates is being pursued due to the inherent advantages of Si, which include available wafer sizes (as large as 300 mm), lower cost (both for the substrates and number of die per wafer), compatibility with semiconductor processing equipment, and the match of the coefficient of thermal expansion with silicon read-out integrated circuit (ROIC). Raytheon has already demonstrated low-defect, high-quality MBE-grown HgCdTe/Si as large as 150 mm in diameter. The focal plane arrays (FPAs) presented in this paper were grown on 100 mm diameter (211)Si substrates in a Riber Epineat system. The basic device structure is an MBE-grown p-on-n heterojunction device. Growth begins with a CdTe/ZnTe buffer layer followed by the HgCdTe active device layers; the entire growth process is performed in␣situ to maintain clean interfaces between the various layers. In this experiment the cutoff wavelengths were varied from 10.0 μm to 10.7 μm at 78 K. Detectors with >50% quantum efficiency and R ₀ A ∼1000 Ohms cm² were obtained, with 256 × 256, 30 μm focal plane arrays from these detectors demonstrating response operabilities >99%. Work supported by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) through CACI Technologies, Inc. subcontract no. 601-05-0088, NVESD technical task order no. TTO-01, prime contract no. DAAB07-03-D-C214, (delivery order no. 0016)