Optical and electrical characterization of GaN layers grown on silicon and sapphire substrates

Characterization of the structural, optical and electrical properties of GaN layers grown by two epitaxial techniques (ECR-MBE and MOCVD) using different substrates (vicinal Si111 and sapphire) has been performed. The quality of the samples grown by MOCVD seems to be influenced by the nitrogen source used for the growth. Unintentionally doped MBE samples with n-type concentrations around 10¹⁸ cm⁻³ and Hall mobility of 15 cm² (V s)⁻¹ were studied. GaN films doped with Mg and grown using AlN buffer layers have also been analyzed to study the influence of the thickness of the buffer layer on the optical properties of the GaN epilayer. In the samples with low Mg doping, a thin AlN buffer layer improved the optical quality of the film. In general, all the MBE samples doped with Mg were highly resistive, probably due to a low activation or high ionization energy of the Mg acceptors. Technological issues related to the formation of ohmic contacts on GaN layers are also presented.     

Stress, structural and electrical properties of Si-doped GaN film grown by MOCVD

The stresses, structural and electrical properties of n-type Si-doped GaN films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) are systemically studied. It is suggested that the main stress relaxation is induced by bending dislocations in low doping samples. But for higher doping samples, as the Si doping concentration increases, the in-plane stresses in the grown films are quickly relaxed due to the rapid increase of the edge dislocation densities. Hall effect measurements reveal that the carrier mobility first increases rapidly and then decreases with increasing Si doping concentration. This phenomenon is attributed to the interaction between various scattering process. It is suggested that the dominant scattering process is defect scattering for low doping samples and ionized impurity scattering for high doping samples.     

金属有机物化学气相淀积法生长的Si掺杂GaN薄膜的应力，结构与电学特性研究

The stresses, structural and electrical properties of n-type Si-doped GaN films grown by metaiorganic chemical vapor deposition （MOCVD） are systemically studied. It is suggested that the main stress relaxation is induced by bending dislocations in low doping samples. But for higher doping samples, as the Si doping concentration increases, the in-plane stresses in the grown films are quickly relaxed due to the rapid increase of the edge dislocation densities. Hall effect measurements reveal that the carrier mobility first increases rapidly and then decreases with increasing Si doping concentration. This phenomenon is attributed to the interaction between various scattering process. It is suggested that the dominant scattering process is defect scattering for low doping samples and ionized impurity scattering for high doping samples.     

Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition growth of high optical quality and high mobility GaN

Hall mobilities as high as 702 and 1230 cm²/Vs at 300 and 160K along with low dislocation densities of 4.0 × 10⁸ cm^-2 have been achieved in GaN films grown on sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. High growth temperatures have been established to be crucial for optimal GaN film quality. Photoluminescence measurements revealed a low intensity of the deep defect band around 550 nm in films grown under optimized conditions.     

Observation of compensation in GaN films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Hall-effect measurements were conducted on an unintentionally doped n-type GaN films grown on (0 0 0 1) sapphire substrates in a low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD) system. Variable temperature Hall-effect measurements reveal a different dependence of the electron concentration and the Hall mobility on temperature for the two samples. In the sample with a background concentration of 10¹⁸ cm⁻³, the electron concentration shows a non-monotonous relationship with increasing temperature from 90 to 400 K. However, in the normal sample with a background concentration of <10¹⁷ cm⁻³, the dependence of the electron concentration on temperature is monotonous between 90 and 400 K. The different behavior was also found in the dependence of the Hall mobility on temperature for the sample. The experimental data were analyzed by considering two donor levels and one acceptor level model. The good agreement between measured data and calculation demonstrates that the abnormal dependence is indicative of a compensation effect in GaN film grown by LP-MOCVD.     

Doping of gallium nitride using disilane

The silicon doping of n-type GaN using disilane has been demonstrated for films grown on sapphire substrates by low pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. The binding energy of an exciton bound to a neutral Si donor has been determined from low temperature (6K) photoluminescence spectra to be 8.6 meV. Nearly complete activation of the Si impurity atom in the GaN lattice has been observed.     

The effect of GaN and ain buffer layers on GaN film properties grown on both C-plane and A-plane sapphire

This paper presents a comparative study of the properties of GaN grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy, using both a GaN and A1N buffer layer, as a function of sapphire orientation (c-plane vs a-plane). Results are presented for varying the thickness of the buffer layer, varying the growth temperature of the GaN film, and also varying the ammonia/trimethylgallium mass flow ratio. The electron Hall mobilities of GaN films grown on an A1N buffer layer were, in general, higher compared to films grown using a GaN buffer layer. In addition, growth on a-plane sapphire resulted in higher quality films (over a wider range of buffer thicknesses) than growth on c-plane sapphire. The room temperature electron mobilities were also found to be dependent on, not only the growth temperature, but also the ammonia/trimethylgallium mass flow ratio.     

Gallium nitride materials - progress, status, and potential roadblocks

Metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are the principal techniques for the growth and n-type (Si) and p-type (Mg) doping of III-nitride thin films on sapphire and silicon carbide substrates as well as previously grown GaN films. Lateral and pendeoepitaxy via MOVPE reduce significantly the dislocation density and residual strain in GaN and AlGaN films. However tilt and coalescence boundaries are produced in the laterally growing material. Very high electron mobilities in the nitrides have been realized in radio-frequency plasma-assisted MBE GaN films and in two-dimensional electron gases in the AlGaN/GaN system grown on MOVPE-derived GaN substrates at the crossover from the intermediate growth regime to the droplet regime. State-of-the-art Mg doping profiles and transport properties have been achieved in MBE-derived p-type GaN. The Mg-memory effect, and heterogeneous growth, substrate uniformity, and flux control are significant challenges for MOVPE and MBE, respectively. Photoluminescence (PL) of MOVPE-derived unintentionally doped (UID) heteroepitaxial GaN films show sharp lines near 3.478 eV due to recombination processes associated with the annihilation of free-excitons (FEs) and excitons bound to a neutral shallow donor (D/spl deg/X).     

脉冲激光双光束沉积掺Mg的GaN薄膜的研究

采用脉冲激光双光束沉积系统在Si(111)衬底上生长了掺Mg的GaN薄膜和未掺杂GaN薄膜。利用X射线衍射(XRD)、原子力显微镜(AFM)、室温范德堡霍尔测量及光致发光(PL)光谱对两类薄膜进行对比分析，结果显示，所生长的GaN薄膜均为六方纤锌矿晶体结构，掺Mg可细化所生长的GaN薄膜晶粒。随着掺Mg量的增加，GaN薄膜无需后处理即可由”型导电转化为p型导电，GaN薄膜的光学性能随p型载流子浓度增大而提高；然而掺Mg却导致GaN薄膜结晶质量下降，掺镁量过大的GaN薄膜中p型载流子浓度反而减少，光致发光中黄发射峰增强较大。研究表明通过优化脉冲激光双光束沉积参数无需任何后处理可直接获得高空穴载流子浓度的p型GaN薄膜。     

Si衬底和Si-SiO_2-Si柔性衬底上的GaN生长

使用MBE方法在Si(111)衬底和Si SiO2 Si柔性衬底上生长了GaN外延层 ,并对在两种衬底上生长的样品进行了对比分析 .在柔性衬底上获得了无裂纹的外延层 ,其表面粗糙度为 0 6nm .研究了GaN外延层中的应力及其光学性质 ,光致发光测试结果表明柔性衬底上生长的外延层中应力和杂质浓度明显低于直接生长在Si衬底上的样品的值 .研究结果显示了所用柔性衬底有助于改善GaN外延膜的质量     

RF-MBE生长的高Al势垒层AlGaN/GaN HEMT结构

采用RF-MBE技术,在蓝宝石衬底上生长了高Al组分势垒层AlGaN/GaN HEMT结构.用三晶X射线衍射分析得到AlGaN势垒层的Al组分约为43%,异质结构晶体质量较高,界面比较光滑.变温霍尔测量显示此结构具有良好的电学性能,室温时电子迁移率和电子浓度分别高达1246cm2/(V·s)和1.429×1013cm-2,二者的乘积为1.8×1016V-1·s-1.用此材料研制的器件,直流特性得到了提高,最大漏极输出电流为1.0A/mm,非本征跨导为218mS/mm.结果表明,提高AlGaN势垒层Al的组分有助于提高AlGaN/GaN HEMT结构材料的电学性能和器件性能.     

Magnetotransport of two-dimensional electron gas in Si/SiGe modulation doped structures grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy

We have characterized two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) in Si/SiGe modulation doped structures grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy. Hall bar structures were fabricated to characterize the structures and magnetotransport measurements were carried out at temperatures down to 0.4 K. Pronounced Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations were observed in the longitudinal magnetoresistance, indicative of high quality 2DEG in the channel. Electron mobilities up to 87,000 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ with sheet densities about 7 × 10¹¹ cm⁻² were obtained at low temperature. Dingle plots of the magnetoresistance vs reciprocal magnetic field were utilized to determine the single-particle relaxation times in order to investigate scattering mechanisms in these structure. The ratio of the transport scattering time derived from electron mobility to the single-particle relaxation time is of the order of 10, indicating that remote impurity scattering is a dominant factor limiting the mobility of our structures. The behaviour of the magnetotransport data is discussed using a model for parallel conduction.     

Electrical and structural properties of pulse laser-annealed polycrystalline silicon films

Doped epitaxial films of Si on single-crystal high-resistivity Si substrates have been prepared using ion implantation and Q-switched ruby laser annealing of LPCVD polycrystalline Si layers. Films, doped with B or As in the range 10¹⁷to 5 × 10²⁰cm^-3were studied by the measurement of their resistivities, Hall mobilities, and doping density profiles. The good film quality achieved permitted the fabrication of p-channel MOS transistors which, through measurements of threshold voltage and transconductance, yielded additional data on the surface mobility and the integrity of the Si-SiO2interface. The electrical properties of the films compared favorably with those of similarly doped single-crystal material, and transmission electron microscopy was used to confirm the good structural quality of the epitaxial growth.     

生长压力对GaN材料光学与电学性能的影响

研究了采用MOCVD技术分别在100与500Torr反应室压力下生长的非故意掺杂GaN薄膜的光学与电学性能。研究表明,低压100Torr外延生长条件可以有效地降低Ga与NH3气相反应造成GaN薄膜的碳杂质沾污,从而抑制造成光致发光中黄光峰与蓝光峰的深受主的形成,所制备的材料表现出较好的光学性能。同时,不同生长压力下的GaN薄膜表现出相异的电学性能,即在500Torr下生长的样品通常表现出更高的载流子浓度（（4.6-6.4）×1016 cm-3）与更高的迁移率（446-561cm2/（V.s））,而100Torr下生长的样品通常表现为更低的载流子浓度（1.56-3.99）×1016 cm-3与更低迁移率（22.9-202cm2/（V.s））。     

Growth and characterization of germanium and boron doped silicon epitaxial films

The epitaxial growth and characterization of in-situ germanium and boron (Ge/B) doped Si epitaxial films is described. As indicated by secondary ion mass spectroscopy and spreading resistance measurements, the total and electrically activated B concentrations are essentially identical and independent of Ge incorporation. The B and Ge concentrations are uniformly distributed in these Ge/B doped films. A slight enhancement of Hall mobility is obtained, possibly due to the stress relief induced by Ge counterdoping. Carrier conduction in these films is due to the activated B with an activation energy of 0.04 eV as revealed by conductivity versus temperature measurements. Ge atoms appear to be isoelectronic with Si atoms in these films. A slight degradation of minority carrier diffusion length is observed. Electrical characterization of PN diodes on these Ge/B doped films do not reveal any anomaly. SiO₂ on these Ge/B doped films has similar oxide fixed charge density, interface state density and dielectric breakdown strength compared to silicon dioxide on boron doped epitaxial films. Electron injection reveals a different transport mechanism of the SiO₂ grown on these Ge/B doped films.     

Thermal evaporation of Ge on Si for near infrared detectors: Material and device characterization

Using a low-temperature process, we thermally evaporated Ge thin films on Si substrates and investigated both structural and electrical properties of samples grown at various temperatures. The characterization included X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and Hall measurements and aimed at determining a suitable temperature range in terms of crystal quality and transport properties. Finally, we employed Ge films on Si to fabricate near infrared photodiodes and test them in terms of dark current and responsivity.     

GaN在Si(001)上的ECR等离子体增强MOCVD直接生长研究

研究了用电子回旋共振(ECR)等离子体增强金属有机物化学气相沉积(PEMOCVD)技术在Si(001)衬底上,低温(620～720℃)下GaN薄膜的直接外延生长及晶相结构.高分辨透射电镜(HRTEM)和X射线衍射(XRD)结果表明:在Si(001)衬底上外延出了高度c轴取向纤锌矿结构的GaN膜,但在GaN/Si(001)界面处自然形成了一层非晶层,其两个表面平坦而陡峭,厚度均匀(≈2nm).分析认为,在初始成核阶段N与Si之间反应所产生的这层SixNy非晶层使GaN的β相没有形成.XRD和原子力显微镜(AFM)结果表明,衬底表面的原位氢等离子体清洗,GaN初始成核及后续生长条件对GaN膜的晶体质量非常重要.     

P- and N-type doping of GaN and AlGaN epitaxial layers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Mg- and Si-doped GaN and AlGaN films were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and characterized by room-temperature photoluminescence and Hall-effect measurements. We show that the p-type carrier concentration resulting from Mg incorporation in GaN:Mg films exhibits a nonlinear dependence both on growth temperature and growth pressure. For GaN and AlGaN, n-type doping due to Si incorporation was found to be a linear function of the silane molar flow. Mg-doped GaN layers with 300K hole concentrations p ∼2×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ and Si-doped GaN films with electron concentrations n∼1×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ have been grown. N-type Al_0.10Ga_0.90N:Si films with resistivities as low as p ∼6.6×10⁻³ Ω-cm have been measured.     

Si衬底上侧向外延生长GaN的研究

采用条形Al掩模在Si(111)衬底上进行了GaN薄膜侧向外延的研究.结果显示,当掩模条垂直于Si衬底[11-2]方向,也即GaN[10-10]方向时,GaN无法通过侧向生长合并得到表面平整的薄膜;当掩模条平行于Si衬底[11-2]方向,也即GaN[10-10]方向时,GaN侧向外延速度较快,有利于合并得到平整的薄膜.同时,研究表明,升高温度和降低生长气压都有利于侧向生长.通过优化生长工艺,在条形Al掩模Si(111)衬底上得到了连续完整的GaN薄膜.原子力显微镜测试显示,窗口区域生长的GaN薄膜位错密度约为1×109/cm2,而侧向生长的GaN薄膜位错密度降低到了5×107/cm2以下.     

High mobility GaAs-AlxGa1?xAs single period modulation-doped heterojunctions

Single period modulation-doped structures composed of an AlxGa1?xAs layer, part of which is doped with Si, on top of an undoped GaAs layer have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The films were characterised using Hall effect measurements carried out at temperatures between 10 and 300 K. With 50?75 ? thick undoped (Al, Ga)As layers near the interface, mobilities in excess of 115000 cm2/Vs at 10 K and 7450 cm2/Vs at 300 K have been achieved for an average doping concentration of ?5×1016 cm?3. These are some of the highest mobilities as yet obtained from modulation-doped structures, and represent an increase in mobility over equivalently doped GaAs by about a factor of 20 at 10 K and by a factor of 2 at 300 K.