Photoelectron spectroscopic investigation of InN and InN/GaN heterostructures

The surface band diagram of InN and band structure of the InN/GaN interface were studied using ultraviolet photoemissive yield spectroscopy and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The surface work function and the difference between the Fermi level and the conduction band minimum of InN were determined by ultraviolet photoemissive yield measurement. The band offsets and surface band bending were determined using XPS. Both spectra proposed downward band bending of the InN surface. Moreover, the Schottky barrier height (SBH) of the InN/GaN interface is determined (1.5 eV). Comparison of the measured SBH with our previous results by electrical measurement is discussed. The physical quantities derived in this work provide important information for use in future studies of InN and InN/GaN heterostructures.     

Structural, optical and electrical study of undoped GaN layers obtained by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on sapphire substrates

We investigate optical, structural and electrical properties of undoped GaN grown on sapphire. The layers were prepared in a horizontal reactor by low pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition at temperatures of 900 °C and 950 °C on a low temperature grown (520 °C) GaN buffer layer on (0001) sapphire substrate. The growth pressure was kept at 10,132 Pa. The photoluminescence study of such layers revealed a band-to-band emission around 366 nm and a yellow band around 550 nm. The yellow band intensity decreases with increasing deposition temperature. X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy studies show the formation of hexagonal GaN layers with a thickness of around 1 μm. The electrical study was performed using temperature dependent Hall measurements between 35 and 373 K. Two activation energies are obtained from the temperature dependent conductivity, one smaller than 1 meV and the other one around 20 meV. For the samples grown at 900 °C the mobilities are constant around 10 and 20 cm² V⁻¹ s^− 1, while for the sample grown at 950 °C the mobility shows a thermally activated behavior with an activation energy of 2.15 meV.     

High quality a-plane GaN films grown on cone-shaped patterned r-plane sapphire substrates

Planar nonpolar (112?0) a-plane GaN films have been grown by metalorganic chemical-vapor deposition directly on cone-shaped patterned r-plane sapphire substrates (PRSS) fabricated by dry etching. High-resolution X-ray diffractometers 2θ-ω scan confirmed that the films grown on PRSS are solely a-plane oriented, and the full width at half maximum values (FWHM) of the X-ray rocking curves for (112?0) GaN along [0001]_GaN and [11?00]_GaN were found to be 684 and 828″, respectively. As compared to the film grown on conventional r-plane sapphire substrate which typically has (112?0) omega FWHM values of 900 and 2124″ along [0001]_GaN and [11?00]_GaN respectively, the film grown on PRSS exhibits overall reduced omega FWHM values, and much smaller anisotropy behavior of crystallinity with respect to the in-plane orientation. The surface morphology is also improved by utilizing the PRSS technique. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy analysis shows that the density of threading dislocations has been greatly reduced from ~ 1.0 × 10¹⁰ cm^− 2 above the flat sapphire regions to ~ 1.0 × 10⁷ cm^− 2 above the protruding cone patterns. The improvement of crystal quality and the increase of light extraction efficiency by using cone-shaped PRSS technique lead to a strong enhancement in the light emission of a-plane GaN films. These results indicate that growth of a-plane GaN films on cone-shaped PRSS shows promise for use in high-quality and high-cost-performance nonpolar GaN based devices.     

Cubic GaN layers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on GaN templates obtained by nitridation of GaAs

Cubic gallium nitride epitaxial layers were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on GaN templates obtained by nitridation of GaAs substrates. The GaN structure can be peeled off the GaAs substrate and it can be handled separately. X-ray diffraction, Raman and photoluminescence measurements show that the epitaxial layers are cubic and monocrystalline.     

Electrical and structural characterization of AlGaN/GaN field-effect transistors with recessed gate

Performance of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) with recessed gate was investigated and compared with non-recessed counterparts. Optimal dry etch conditions by plasma assisted Ar sputtering were found for ∼6 nm gate recess of a 20 nm thick AlGaN barrier layer. A decrease of the residual strain after the gate recessing (from −0.9 GPa to −0.68 GPa) was evaluated from the photoluminescence measurement. The saturation drain current at the gate voltage V_G = 1 V decreased from 1.05 A/mm to 0.85 A/mm after the recessing. The gate voltage for a maximal transconductance (240−250 mS/mm) has shifted from −3 V for non-recessed HFETs to −0.2 V for recessed counterparts. Similarly, the threshold voltage increased after the gate recessing. A decrease of the sheet charge density from 1 × 10¹³ cm⁻² to 4 × 10¹² cm⁻² at V_G = 0 V has been evaluated from the capacitance measurements. The RF measurements yielded a slight increase of the cut-off frequencies after the gate recessing. All these indicate that the gate recessing is a useful tool to optimize the AlGaN/GaN HFET performance for high-frequency applications as well as for the preparation of normally-off devices.     

Structure and Electrical Characteristics of Zinc Oxide Thin Films Grown on Si (111) by Metal-organic Chemical Vapor Deposition

ZnO thin films were grown on Si(111) substrates by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition.The crystal structures and electrical properties of as-grown sample were investigated by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and conductive atomic force microscopy(C-AFM).It can be seen that with increasing growth temperature,the surface morphology of ZnO thin films changed from flake-like to cobblestones-like structure.The current maps were simultaneously recorded with the topography,which was gained by C-AFM contact mode.Conductivity for the off-axis facet planes presented on ZnO grains enhanced.Measurement results indicate that the off-axis facet planes were more electrically active than the c-plane of ZnO flakes or particles probably due to lower Schottky barrier height of the off-axis facet planes.     

Post-annealing behavior of Ni/Au Schottky contact on non-polar a-plane GaN

The effects of annealing on the performance of Schottky devices on a-plane GaN/r-plane sapphire were investigated. The results show that the post-anneal Schottky barrier height (SBH) increased with increasing annealing temperature, reaching a peak increase of 43% at 500 °C. A further increase in the anneal temperature above 500 °C degraded the SBH. The ideality factor displayed a weak dependence on post-annealing temperature until rising dramatically at a post-annealing temperature of 600 °C. The degradation at 600 °C post-annealing temperature can be attributed to the formation of Nickel-Gallides. In-situ current-voltage characteristics obtained between 15 °C and 165 °C revealed that both the ideality factor and SBH were stable up to 165 °C with increasing in-situ measurement temperature.     

Control of epitaxial growth orientation in ZnO nanorods on c-plane sapphire substrates

This paper presents a study on low temperature hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorods (NRs) on pre-seeded (0001) sapphire substrates. Prior to hydrothermal growth of ZnO NRs, epitaxial ZnO seeds were grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition under various process conditions. Findings show that the majority of ZnO NRs inclined at a specific angle of about 38° to the direction perpendicular to the substrate surface and exhibited a preferential in-plane alignment, besides other NRs growing vertically from the sapphire surface. X-ray diffraction φ-scan measurements reveal that the ZnO nanorods displayed two distinct epitaxial relationships with sapphire which were (0001)_ZnO//(0001)_sapphire and (0001)_ZnO//(101?4)_sapphire, respectively. Reduced lattice mismatch between ZnO and sapphire is responsible for the inclined ZnO NRs growth. The growth direction of ZnO NRs is remarkably dependent on the growth conditions of ZnO seeds and sapphire substrate pre-treatment. The epitaxial orientations of ZnO seeds grown on the sapphire substrate dominate the subsequent ZnO NRs growth and can be controlled through adjusting growth conditions.     

Epitaxy of In0.01Ga0.99As on Ge/offcut Si (001) virtual substrate

In_0.01Ga_0.99As thin films free of anti-phase domains were grown on 7° offcut Si (001) substrates using Ge as buffer layers. The Ge layers were grown by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition using ‘low/high temperature’ two-step strategy, while the In_0.01Ga_0.99As layers were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The etch-pit counting, cross-section and plane-view transmission electron microscopy, room temperature photoluminescence measurements are performed to study the dependence of In_0.01Ga_0.99As quality on the thickness of Ge buffer. The threading dislocation density of Ge layer was found to be inversely proportional to the square root of its thickness. The threading dislocation density of In_0.01Ga_0.99As on 300 nm thick Ge/offcut Si was about 4 × 10⁸ cm^− 2. Higher quality In_0.01Ga_0.99As can be obtained on thicker Ge/offcut Si virtual substrate. We found that the threading dislocations acted as non-radiative recombination centers and deteriorated the luminescence of In_0.01Ga_0.99As remarkably. Secondary ion mass spectrometry measurement indicated as low as 10¹⁶ cm^− 3 Ge unintended doping in In_0.01Ga_0.99As.     

Origins of the temperature dependence of the series resistance, ideality factor and barrier height based on the thermionic emission model for n-type GaN Schottky diodes

The temperature dependence of the series resistance (R_S), ideality factor (η), and barrier height (?_b) for n-type GaN Schottky diodes were studied. From the observed Hall-effect result, it is suggested that the increase of R_S with increasing temperature may result from a decrease in electron mobility with increasing temperature and the increase in the effective density of states in the conduction band with increasing temperature may lead to an increase in the energy difference between the conduction band minimum and the Fermi level and a decrease in the probability of tunneling. It is shown that the tunneling behavior is responsible for decreasing ?_b and increasing η with decreasing temperature on the basis of the thermionic emission model.     

Growth and structural investigations of epitaxial hexagonal YMnO3 thin films deposited on wurtzite GaN(001) substrates

Epitaxial hexagonal YMnO₃ (h-YMnO₃) films having sharp (00l) X-ray diffraction peaks were grown above 700 °C in 5 mTorr O₂ via pulsed laser deposition both on as-received wurtzite GaN/AlN/6H-SiC(001) (w-GaN) substrates as well as on w-GaN surfaces that were etched in 50% HF solution. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed an interfacial layer between film and the unetched substrate; this layer was absent in those samples wherein an etched substrate was used. However, the substrate treatment did not affect the epitaxial arrangement between the h-YMnO₃ film and w-GaN substrate. The epitaxial relationships of the h-YMnO₃ films with the w-GaN(001) substrate was determined via X-ray diffraction to be (001)_YMnO3 ‖ (001)_GaN : [11¯0]_YMnO3 ‖ [110]_GaN; in other words, the basal planes of the film and the substrate are aligned parallel to one another, as are the most densely packed directions in planes of the film and the substrate. Interestingly, this arrangement has a larger lattice mismatch than if the principal axes of the unit cells were aligned.     

Growth of GaN films with controlled out-of-plane texture on Si wafers

GaN films were deposited on Si (400) wafers by a pulsed laser deposition technique, and it was shown that out-of-plane texture of the film is controllable although the film and the substrate do not have any interface epitaxy. The texture of the film can be set either in c-axis or a-axis direction, thereby achieving polar or nonpolar film surfaces as desired. The GaN film and Si substrate were found to be separated by a thin amorphous interface layer consisting of Si, Ga, and O atoms, that can enhance the bonding between GaN and Si. This study shows the possibility of depositing GaN films on Si wafers at low cost and the potential of integrating Si based electronics with GaN based optoelectronics.     

The influence of reactor pressure on qualities of GaN layers grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy

Influence of reactor pressure on the quality of GaN layers grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) has been studied. With the reactor pressure decreasing from 7 to 5 × 10⁴ Pa, improvements in structural, optical, and electrical properties of the GaN films have been observed.An investigation of the surface morphology of the GaN films reveals that the improvements arise from the change of the growth mode from an island-like mode at high pressures to a step-flow one at low pressures. These results clearly indicate that the reactor pressure, similar to the growth temperature, is one of the important parameters to control the qualities of HVPE-GaN epilayers.     

AlGaN/GaN HEMTs passivated by Cat-CVD SiN Film

We demonstrate the excellent performance of a 140 W AlGaN/GaN HEMT in the C-band, which is passivated by a Cat-CVD SiN film. The interface trap density of the AlGaN surface passivated by Cat-CVD film after NH₃ treatment is 3 × 10¹² cm^− 2, which is the smallest of investigated deposition techniques. The lowest interface trap density achieved by the Cat-CVD technique makes it possible to operate the AlGaN/GaN HEMT in the C-band. We clarify that the Cat-CVD technique is necessary for developing future amplifiers.     

Preparation of CdS coatings on the inner surface of silica aerogels by single-source metal-organic chemical vapor deposition at atmospheric pressure

CdS coatings are deposited on the external and inner surfaces of silica aerogels with a single-source metal-organic chemical vapor deposition method at atmospheric pressure. Thermogravimetry analysis and differential scanning calorimetry experiments are used to investigate the thermal behavior of silica aerogels, and the sample treated at 500 °C for 120 min has been found to possess the lowest density. The densities and morphologies of the silica aerogels under the different treatment temperatures are also studied. The CdS coatings are deposited on the inner surface of the silica aerogels with a 4 l/min flow of Ar gas. The procedure for the preparation of the CdS coatings on the inner surface is reported in details. The surface morphologies of the CdS-coated silica aerogels are analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The results of the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrate that the CdS coatings are composed of cadmium and sulphur with an approximately atomic ratio of 1:1, and they are hexagonal structures.     

Dislocation reduction in GaN film using Ga-lean GaN buffer layer and migration enhanced epitaxy

A GaN buffer layer grown under Ga-lean conditions by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) was used to reduce the dislocation density in a GaN film grown on a sapphire substrate. The Ga-lean buffer, with inclined trench walls on its surface, provided an effective way to bend the propagation direction of dislocations, and it reduced the dislocation density through recombination and annihilation processes. As a result, the edge dislocation density in the GaN film was reduced by approximately two orders of magnitude to 2 × 10⁸ cm^− 2. The rough surface of the Ga-lean buffer was recovered using migration enhanced epitaxy (MEE), a process of alternating deposition cycle of Ga atoms and N₂ radicals, during the PAMBE growth. By combining these two methods, a GaN film with high-crystalline-quality and atomically-flat surface can be achieved by PAMBE on a lattice mismatch substrate.     

Photoluminescence and spin relaxation of MnZnO/GaN-based light-emitting diodes

This study investigates the spin relaxation of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with an MnZnO film by examining its photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved magnetization modulation photoluminescence. PL measurements reveal that the application of a magnetic field produced a clear difference between the intensities of the right (σ⁺) and left (σ⁻) circular polarization components. The circular polarization was identified as P_circ = [I(σ⁺) − I(σ⁻)] / [I(σ⁺) + I(σ⁻)], where I(σ⁺) and I(σ⁻) are the intensities of the σ⁺ and σ⁻ components, respectively. The PL polarization was 3.6% in a 0.5 T magnetic field. In a magnetic field, the photo-ionized lifetime and spin-polarized lifetime values were approximately 13.64 and 54.54 ns, respectively. The right-circular-spin-polarization lifetime and the left-circular-spin-polarization lifetime values were about 39.09 and 40.01 ns, respectively.     

TiO2 thin films using organic liquid materials prepared by Hot-Wire CVD method

TiO₂ thin films prepared by Hot-Wire CVD method have been studied as a protecting material of transparent conducting oxide (TCO) against atomic hydrogen exposures for the fabrications of Si thin film solar cells. It was found that electrical conductivity of the films at room temperature reached a value of 0.4 S/cm. This value is 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than that of TiO₂ films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering and electron-beam evaporation methods in our previous works. The conductivity improvement seems to be partly due to the enlargement of TiO₂ crystallites.     

Characterization of metal-supported Al2O3 thin films by scanning electrochemical microscopy

In this paper, physiochemical properties of amorphous alumina thin films, grown by the metal organic chemical vapour deposition process on the surface of platinum (Pt/Al₂O₃) and stainless steel (SS/Al₂O₃), were investigated in aqueous media. The study was performed by the use of scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM), which allowed obtaining information on uniformity, topography and chemical stability/reactivity of the alumina coatings with high spatial resolution. In particular, the effects due to local acid, base and fluoride ions attack on alumina layers of thickness of about 250 nm (in the Pt/Al₂O₃ sample) and 1000 nm (in the SS/Al₂O₃ sample) were investigated. In the acid and base attack, high concentrations of H₂SO₄ and KOH were electrogenerated locally by the use of a 25 μm diameter platinum microelectrode. The latter was also used as SECM tip to monitor the chemical effect on the alumina layers. It was found that, regardless of the thickness of the film, alumina provided good resistance against local attack of concentrated H₂SO₄; instead, the film dissolved when subjected to KOH attack. The dissolution rate depended on several experimental parameters, such as SECM-tip to substrate distance, electrolysis time and alumina film thickness. The alumina layer proved also relatively poor resistance to etching in 0.1 M NaF solutions.     

The effect of temperature on the growth of carbon nanotubes on copper foil using a nickel thin film as catalyst

Growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on bulk copper foil substrates has been achieved by sputtering a nickel thin film on Cu substrates followed by thermal chemical vapor deposition. The characteristics of the nanotubes are strongly dependent on the Ni film thickness and reaction temperature. Specifically, a correlation between the thin film nickel catalyst thickness and the CNT diameter was found. Two hydrocarbon sources investigated were methane and acetylene to determine the best conditions for growth of CNTs on copper. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of this simple method of directly integrating CNTs with highly conductive substrates for use in applications where a conductive CNT network is desirable.