Microstructure of GaN deposited by lateral confined epitaxy on patterned Si (111)

Lateral confined epitaxy (LCE) is an epitaxial growth method on substrates patterned to form uniform mesas separated by trenches for laterally restricting growth area. In this work, plan view and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used in order to characterize the microstructure of GaN films grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on patterned Si (111) using the LCE method. Two kinds of propagation modes of the dislocations were observed. The dislocations in the center of the mesa mainly propagate vertically to the surface. On the other hand, dislocations close (1–2 μm) to the mesa edges tend to bend laterally, allowing dislocation reactions that result in a lower dislocation density. This suggests that the overall material quality improves with decreasing mesa size, which is consistent with the observed increase in photoluminescence band edge peak intensity.     

Effects of mesa area and orientation on defects in strained InxGa1−xAs films grown by LPOMCVD

We have selectively grown In_xGa_1?xAs (0.04 <x < 0.20, 200 ? 7000Å) on rectangular growth areas (100 μm by 200 mil) patterned on GaAs substrates with very low etch pit densities (～200 cm^?2). The edge orientations of the growth areas were varied on the substrate resulting in distinct facet formation on the deposited mesa structures. Layers were grown using Low-Pressure Organometallic Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPOMCVD) and all samples were annealed for 1 hr at 700° C. Indium content and film thicknesses were very uniform across a wafer so that only the facet shape was varied. Observation of Crosshatch defect densities as a function of growth window orientation showed that 2900Å In_0.08Ga_0.92As mesas with [010] edge orientations exhibited no Crosshatch defects. Identical mesas grown in windows with other edge orientations exhibited varying crosshatch defect densities. Large unpatterned areas of growth were heavily crosshatched. This variation in Crosshatch defect density as a function of mesa orientation appears to be associated with non-area related dislocation nucleation mechanisms at the mesa edges. Proper choice of window orientation for patterned substrate epitaxy will allow the mesa facets to be controlled thereby reducing misfit dislocations in the heterostructure interface.     

Self-organization of nanostructures on planar and patterned high-index semiconductor surfaces

In order to directly control the size and in particular the position of nanostructures naturally formed on high-index semiconductor surfaces during molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), the growth on patterned high-index GaAs substrates is investigated. During MBE of (AlGa)As on patterned GaAs (311)A substrates, a new phenomenon in the selectivity of growth has been found to form a fast growing sidewall on one side of mesa stripes oriented along the [01-1] direction. Preferential migration of Ga adatoms from the mesa top as well as the mesa bottom toward the sidewall develops a smooth convex curved surface profile without facets. This unique growth mode that does not occur for the perpendicular stripe orientation nor on other patterned GaAs (n11)A and B substrates is stable for step heights down to the quantum size regime to produce lateral quantum wires on patterned GaAs (311)A substrates. Quantum confinement of excitons in the wires has been demonstrated by the transition from two-dimensional to magnetic confinement with increasing magnetic field. For device applications it is important that the wires can be stacked in the growth direction without any increase in interface roughness or wire size fluctuations, indicating a self-limiting lateral growth mechanism. Finally, in strained layer epitaxy, (InGa)As islands can be selectively placed on the mesa top and bottom leaving entirely free the curved part along the fast growing side-wall.     

Epitaxial necking in GaAs grown on pre-pattemed Si substrates

We report a new method for the natural reduction of threading dislocations in GaAs on Si by growing on patterned Si substrates. We also explore other effects of patterning on dislocation formation during growth: stress relief near the mesa edges at high aspect ratios, and limited dislocation nucleation and propagation. Prior to growth, the Si substrates were processed to produce a plurality of mesas varying in width (5-170 μm) and geometry (circular, rectangular, and square mesas). After growth of the GaAs, the material was characterized with cathodoluminescence (CL) and secondary electron microscopy. For a GaAs growth temperature of 570° C and a thickness of 10 μm, the GaAs grown on the 40μ-wide Si mesas show a factor of 1.6 increase in luminescence intensity over the luminescence intensity from the unpatterned control area. Also, the emission wavelength from the smaller mesas is shifted to shorter wavelengths as compared to GaAs/GaAs and the unpatterned control area. The emission wavelength and CL intensity varies across the mesas; for 40 μm wide mesas, the emission wavelength is fairly constant across the mesa and the CL intensity decreases near the edges, whereas for larger mesas the emission wavelength decreases and the CL intensity increases at the mesa edges. For the 40 μm wide mesas, the integrated CL intensity is equal to that of a control GaAs/GaAs grown with the same doping level. No cracks were observed in the GaAs grown on the Si mesas, even though the thickness of the GaAs was 10 μ,m.     

III-Nitride-Based Light-Emitting Diodes With GaN Micropillars Around Mesa and Patterned Substrate

In this paper, the textured-sidewall mesa and GaN microsize pillars (?-pillars) around the mesa region were fabricated on III-nitride light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a patterned sapphire substrate (PSS). We demonstrated that the light-waveguide mode outside the mesa region of III-nitride LEDs could be disrupted by a GaN ?-pillar around the mesa region and PSS. We found that the power enhancement of LEDs with textured sidewall, ?-pillars around the mesa, and PSS from ray-tracing simulation was about 65% larger than that of conventional LEDs. It was found that we could achieve a high power enhancement of about 60% of LEDs with textured sidewall, ? -pillars around the mesa, and a patterned substrate, and it was close to the result of simulation. It was also found that the light intensity outside the mesa region with ? -pillars of LEDs with or without a patterned substrate would decay in proportion to the distance away from the mesa edge, by studying the light emission intensity image of the whole LEDs. The decay lengths for the textured sidewall and ?-pillars around the mesa LEDs with or without a patterned substrate are 12 and 17 ?m, respectively. We understand that the light outside the mesa region could be extracted earlier by introducing the GaN ?-pillars and patterned substrate together.     

Selective growth of InP on patterned,nonplanar InP substrates by low-pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy

The effects of indium sources, mask materials and etched mesa profiles on growth mor-phology of Fe-doped semi-insulating InP on patterned, nonplanar InP substrates were studied for low-pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE). The presence or absence of polycrystalline InP layers deposited on the mask was found to depend on the indium source but not on the mask material. Trimethylindium was found to be the preferable indium source for prevention of polycrystalline InP deposits on the mask. The etched mesa shape was found to dominate the final geometry of the OMVPE re-grown InP layer. Inclusion of an interfacial layer of 1.16 μm bandgap wavelength InGaAsP between the dielectric mask and InP substrate produces a favorable mesa shape by con-trolling the level of undercut during mesa etching, so as to form a smooth mesa profile. After selective regrowth of InP over the resulting mesa, a planar surface is typically achieved for mesa stripes with a mask overhang length as long as 2.6 μm and a mesa height as high as 4 μm.     

Inductively coupled plasma etching for large format HgCdTe focal plane array fabrication

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) using hydrogen-based gas chemistry has been developed to meet requirements for deep HgCdTe mesa etching and shallow CdTe passivation etching in large format HgCdTe infrared focal plane array (FPA) fabrication. Large format 2048×2048, 20-μm unit-cell short wavelength infrared (SWIR) and 2560×512, 25-μm unit-cell midwavelength infrared (MWIR) double-layer heterojunction (DLHJ) p-on-n HgCdTe FPAs fabricated using ICP processing exhibit >99% pixel operability. The HgCdTe FPAs are grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on Si substrates with suitable buffer layers. Midwavelength infrared detectors fabricated from 4-in. MBE-grown HgCdTe/Si substrates using ICP for mesa delineation and CdTe passivation etching demonstrate measured spectral characteristics, RoA product, and quantum efficiency comparable to detectors fabricated using wet chemical processes. Mechanical samples prepared to examine physical characteristics of ICP reveal plasma with high energy and low ion angle distribution, which is necessary for fine definition, high-aspect ratio mesa etching with accurate replication of photolithographic mask dimensions.     

Atomic hydrogen assisted molecular beam epitaxy on patterned GaAs (311)A substrates: Formation of highly uniform quantum-dot arrays

The idea of combining self-organized growth with growth on patterned substrates to produce new types of nanostructures in a controlled manner is realized in atomic hydrogen assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on patterned GaAs (311)A substrates. In conventional MBE on patterned substrates mesa stripes along [01 ] develop a fast growing sidewall to form quasi-planar lateral quantum wires having a smooth, convex curved surface profile. In atomic hydrogen assisted MBE, the surface naturally develops quasiperiodic one-dimenional step arrays by step bunching along [ 33], i.e., perpendicular to the wire direction with a lateral periodicity around 40 nm. The step array is maintained over the curved sidewall without displacement. Thus, a dense array of dotlike nanostructures is realized with precise control of the position on the substrate surface. High uniformity of the dot array is revealed in micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy with the emission dominated by one single sharp line.     

A novel approach for the complete removal of threading dislocations from ZnSe on GaAs (001)

Here we demonstrate a novel approach to the complete removal of threading dislocations in ZnSe on GaAs (001). This approach, which we call patterned heteroepitaxial processing (PHP), involves post-growth patterning and thermal annealing. Eyitaxial layers of ZnSe on GaAs (001) were grown to thicknesses of 2000–6000 A by photoassisted metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). Following growth, layers were patterned by photolithography and then annealed at elevated temperatures under flowing hydrogen. Threading dislocation densities were determined using a bromine/methanol etch followed by microscopic evaluation of the resulting etch pit densities. We found that as-grown layers contained more than 107 CM-2 threading dislocations. The complete removal of threading dislocations was accomplished by patterning to 70 gm by 70∼tm square regions followed by thermal annealing for 30 minutes at temperatures greater than 5000C. Neither post-growth annealing alone nor post-growth patterning alone had a significant effect. The effectiveness of this approach dminishes significantly below 500 C so that annealing at 400 C produces no measurable effect. We propose that the underlying mechanism for dislocation removal is the thermally activated glide of dislocations to the sidewalls of patterned regions, as promoted by sidewall image forces.     

The isolation and nucleation of misfit dislocations in strained epitaxial layers grown on patterned,ion-damaged GaAs

As shown previously, the misfit dislocation density of strained epitaxial III–V layers can be significantly reduced by isolating sections (via patterned etching) of a GaAs substrate before epitaxial growth. A disadvantage of this technique is that the wafer surface is no longer planar, which can complicate subsequent device fabrication. As an alternative, we have investigated growth of 350 nm of In_0.5Ga{0.95}As by molecular beam epitaxy at two temperatures on substrates which were patterned and selectively damaged by Xe ion implantation (300 keV, 10¹⁵ cm²). Selectively etched substrates were prepared as reference samples as well. The propagation of the misfit dislocations was stopped by the ion-implanted regions of the low growth temperature (400° C) material, but the damaged portions also acted as copious nucleation sources. The resulting dislocation structure was highly anisotropic, with dislocation lines occurring in virtually only one direction. At the higher growth temperature (500° C) the defect density fell, but the ion damaged sections no longer blocked dislocation glide. Images from cathodoluminescence and transmission electron microscopy show thatthe low growth temperature material has a dislocation density of 70,000 cm^-1 in the 110 direction and less than 10,000 cm^-1 in the 110 direction. Ion channeling and x-ray diffraction show that strain is relieved in only one direction. The strain relief is consistent with the relief derived from TEM dislocation counts and Burgers vector determination. However, even this high dislocation count is not sufficient to reach the expected equilibrium strain. Reasons for the anisotropy are discussed.     

Strain relaxation in silicon ion molecular beam epitaxy on silicon (001) substrates during aging

Silicon strained epitaxial films were grown on Si (001) substrates by low energy ion beam assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Films grown in the range of 450– 550°C with concurrent Ar⁺ ion bombardment (100 eV) were characterized using x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy and found to be disloca-tion free and ununiformly strained. During aging, the strained layers stay stable until 500°C. Relaxation of most of the strain occurred at temperatures of 500-650°C. At higher aging temperatures, the strained layers relaxed by the formation of dense dislocation structures.     

Low-Roughness Plasma Etching of HgCdTe Masked with Patterned Silicon Dioxide

A novel mask technique utilizing patterned silicon dioxide films has been exploited to perform mesa etching for device delineation and electrical isolation of HgCdTe third-generation infrared focal-plane arrays (IRFPAs). High-density silicon dioxide films were deposited at temperature of 80°C, and a procedure for patterning and etching of HgCdTe was developed by standard photolithography and wet chemical etching. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the surfaces of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etched samples were quite clean and smooth. Root-mean-square (RMS) roughness characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) was less than 1.5 nm. The etching selectivity between a silicon dioxide film and HgCdTe in the samples masked with patterned silicon dioxide films was greater than 30:1. These results show that the new masking technique is readily available and promising for HgCdTe mesa etching.     

The thermal stability of lattice mismatched InGaAs grown on patterned GaAs

Patterning and etching substrates into mesas separated by trenches before the growth of mismatched (by about 1% or less) epitaxial layers considerably reduces the interface misfit dislocation density when the layer thickness exceeds the critical thickness. Such films are in a metastable state, since misfit dislocations allow the epitaxial layers to relax to an in-plane lattice parameter closer to its strain-free value. Thermal annealing (from 600 to 850° C) has been used to study the stability of these structures to explore the properties of the misfit dislocations and their formation. The misfit dislocation density was determined by counting the dark line defects at the InGaAs/GaAs interface, imaged by scanning cathodoluminescence. InGaAs epitaxial layers grown on patterned GaAs substrates by organometallic chemical vapor deposition possess a very small as-grown misfit dislocation density, and even after severe annealing for up to 300 sec at 800° C the defect density is less than 1500 cm⁻¹ for a In_0.04Ga_0.96As, 300 nm thick layer (about 25% of the dislocation density found in unpatterned material that has not been annealed). The misfit dislocation nucleation properties of the material are found to depend on the trench depth; samples made with deeper (greater than 0.5 μm) trenches are more stable. Molecular beam epitaxially grown layers are much less stable than the above material; misfit dislocations nucleate in much greater numbers than in comparable organo-metallic chemical vapor deposited material at all of the temperatures studied.     

Localized deposition of GaAs/GaInP heterostructures using LP-MOVPE

GaInP layers were grown selectively by low pressure MOVPE in patterned SiO₂ masks on GaAs (100) substrates. The variation of the composition and spontaneous ordering phenomena were analysed by Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence. In contrast to GaInAs, the composition of GalnP shows only a very weak dependence on the size of the structures. On the other hand, there is a shift of the bandgap energy up to 40 meV with decreasing size of the stripes caused by ordering of the Ga and In atoms. Based on these findings lattice matched GaAs/GalnP multilayers were grown to delineate the growth history of the structures. It was demonstrated that the growth habit of deposition in narrow slits (>1μm) can be used to produce mesa-like stripes with dimensions below 100 nm on top of the mesa. Results of GaAs/GaInP quantum wells selectively grown on top of a mesa are presented.     

ZnSe heteroepitaxy on GaAs (110) substrate

ZnSe heteroepitaxial layers have been grown on GaAs (100), (110) on axis, and (110) 6° miscut substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. ZnSe on GaAs (110) shows smooth and featureless spectra from Rutherford backscattering channeling measurements taken along major crystalline directions, whereas ZnSe on GaAs (100) without pre-growth treatments exhibit large interface disorder in channeling spectra. ZnSe films grown on GaAs (110) on axis show facet formation over a wide range of growth conditions. The use of (110) 6° miscut substrates is shown to suppress facet formation; and under the correct growth conditions, facet-free surfaces are achieved. Etch pit density measurements give dislocation densities for ZnSe epitaxial layers grown on GaAs (100), (110) on axis, and (110) 6° miscut substrates of 10⁷/cm², 3 × 10⁵/cm² and 5 × 10⁴/cm², respectively. These results suggest that with further improvements to ZnSe growth on GaAs (110)-off substrates it may be possible to fabricate defect free ZnSe based laser devices.     

Advances in SEM-based diffraction studies of defects and strains in semiconductors

Two scanning electron microscope (SEM)-based diffraction techniques, i.e. electron channelling contrast imaging (ECCI) and electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD) are used to study lattice defect and local elastic strain distributions in Si1-xGe(x) epilayers grown on Si substrates patterned with mesas. The ECCI technique allows the misfit dislocations to be imaged in bulk samples. The misfit dislocations caused plastic relaxation of the strain in planar regions between mesas and in the wider mesas. In the narrower mesas the removal of lateral constraint at the mesa side faces had reduced the stress sufficiently to suppress the propagation of dislocations parallel to the closely spaced side faces. The measurements of small changes in the positions of two zone axes in EBSD patterns caused by variations in the local strain field were used to determine the strains and rotations making up the generalized plane strain tensor describing the deformation in the long mesa structures. The strain sensitivity of the method was determined to be approximately +/- 2 x 10(-4). Distributions of strains and rotations across mesas of several dimensions are reported and differ significantly between mesa for which the mesas width to epilayer thickness is high and low.     

InSb阵列探测芯片的感应耦合等离子反应刻蚀研究

利用感应耦合等离子（ICP）反应刻蚀（RIE）进行了InSb阵列芯片台面刻蚀,并利用轮廓仪、SEM及XRD对台面形貌以及刻蚀损伤进行分析。采用优化的ICP刻蚀参数,实现的刻蚀速率为70~90 nm/min,刻蚀台阶垂直度~80°,刻蚀表面平整光滑、损伤低。与常规的湿法腐蚀相比,明显降低了侧向钻蚀。台面采用此反应刻蚀工艺,制备了具有理想I-V特性的320×256 InSb探测阵列芯片,在-500 mV到零偏压范围内,光敏元（面积23 μm×23 μm）的动态阻抗（Rd）大于100 MΩ。     

图形化蓝宝石衬底形貌对GaN基LED出光性能的影响

近年来,图形化蓝宝石衬底(PSS)作为GaN基LED外延衬底材料被广泛应用.通过干法刻蚀和湿法腐蚀制备了不同规格和形状的蓝宝石衬底图形,并进行外延生长、芯片制备和封装验证,采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和3D轮廓仪进行形貌表征,研究了不同规格和形状的衬底图形对LED芯片出光性能影响,并与外购锥形衬底(PSSZ2)进行对比.结果表明,在20 mA工作电流下,PSSZ2的LED光通量为8.33 lm.采用类三角锥和盾形衬底的LED光通量分别为7.83 lm和7.67 lm,分别比PSSZ2衬底低6.00％和7.92％.对锥形形貌进行优化,采用高1.69 μm、直径2.62 μm、间距0.42 μm的锥形衬底(PSSZ3)的LED光通量为8.67 lm,比PSSZ2衬底高4.08％,优化的PSSZ3能有效地提高LED出光性能.     

Enhancement of photo- and electro-luminescence of GaN-based LED structure grown on a nanometer-scaled patterned sapphire substrate

In this study, a 2 in. sized a highly periodic nanometer-scaled patterned sapphire substrate (NPSS) was fabricated using nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and inductively coupled plasma etching to improve the light-extraction efficiency of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). A blue LED structure was grown on the nanometer-scale patterned sapphire substrates, and the photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) were measured to confirm the effectiveness of the nanometer-scaled patterns on sapphire. An improvement in luminescence efficiency was observed when NPSS was applied; 2 times stronger PL intensity and 2.8 times stronger EL intensity than the LED structure grown on the unpatterned sapphire wafers were measured. These results show highly periodic nanometer-scaled patterns create multi-photon scattering and effectively enhance the light-extraction efficiency of LEDs.     

Lifetime Tests and Junction-Temperature Measurement of InGaN Light-Emitting Diodes Using Patterned Sapphire Substrates

The authors demonstrate nitride-based blue light-emitting diodes with an InGaN/GaN (460 nm) multiple quantum-well structure on the patterned sapphire substrates (PSSs) compared with conventional sapphire substrates (CSSs) using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. According to full-width at half-maximum of high-resolution X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy micrographs, the dislocation density of GaN epilayers grown on the PSS was lower than those of the CSS. It was found that the output power of devices on PSS was 26% larger than that of CSS. The lifetime defined by 50% loss in output power was 590 and 305 h at 85 degC for the PSS and CSS, respectively. It was also found that the junction temperature and thermal resistance were smaller for the PSS. These improvements are attributed to the reduction in dislocation density using PSS structure