Infrared reflectance analysis of GaN epitaxial layers grown on sapphire and silicon substrates

Infrared reflectance (IR) of GaN grown on sapphire and silicon substrates has been studied both theoretically and experimentally. The theoretical calculation of the IR spectra is based on the transfer matrix method. The IR spectral characteristics influenced by several factors, such as film thickness, incident angle, free carriers, are systematically examined. Combined with experimental results, surface scattering and interface layer effects are also studied. For GaN epilayers grown on sapphire, carrier concentrations and mobility are determined by fitting to the IR reststrahlen band and compared with the Hall measurement. The interface effect is demonstrated to cause a damping behaviour of the interference fringes away from the reststrahlen band. For GaN grown on Si, the IR spectra predicted the large surface roughness of the epilayers. A variation of IR reststrahlen band is correlated to the microstructures of the films, i.e. their polycrystalline nature of the GaN films grown on Si. A three-component effective medium model is proposed to calculate the IR spectra for polycrystalline GaN, and a qualitative correlation between the IR spectra and structure of the film is established. All results show that IR, as a non-destructive method, is efficient for characterising GaN epilayers in semiconductor processing.     

Growth of AlGaN epitaxial layers and AlGaN/GaN superlattices by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

Special features of metal-organic chemical vapor deposition of AlGaN epitaxial layers and AlGaN/GaN superlattices either in an Epiquip VP-50 RP research and development reactor (for a single wafer 2 in. in diameter) or in an AIX2000HT production-scale reactor (for up to six wafers 2 in. in diameter) are stud-ied. It is found that the dependence of the aluminum content in the solid phase on the trimethylaluminum (TMA) flux in a reactor levels off; this effect hinders the growth of the layers with a high aluminum content in both types of reactors and is more pronounced in the larger reactor (AIX2000HT). Presumably, this effect is a consequence of spurious reactions in the vapor phase and depends on the partial pressure of TMA in the reactor. The aluminum content in the layers can be increased not only by reducing the total pressure in the reactor but also by increasing the total gas flow through the reactor and reducing the trimethylgallium flux. The approaches described above were used to grow layers with a mole fraction of AlN as large as 20% in the AIX2000HT production-scale reactor at a pressure of 400 mbar (this fraction was as large as 40% at 200 mbar). AlGaN layers with the entire range of composition were grown in the Epiquip VP-50 RP reactor.     

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.     

Influence of an increase in the implantation dose of erbium ions and annealing temperature on photoluminescence in AlGaN/GaN superlattices and GaN epitaxial layers

Room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) has been studied in AlGaN/GaN superlattices and GaN epitaxial layers implanted with 1-MeV erbium at a dose of 3 × 10¹⁵ cm^?2 and annealed in argon. The intensity of PL from Er³⁺ ions in the superlattices exceeds that for the epitaxial layers at annealing temperatures of 700–1000°C. The strongest difference (by a factor of ～2.8) in PL intensity between the epitaxial layers and the superlattices and the highest PL intensity for the superlattices are observed upon annealing at 900°C. On raising the annealing temperature to 1050°C, the intensity of the erbium emission from the superlattices decreases substantially. This circumstance may be due to their thermal destruction.     

Flat GaN epitaxial layers grown on Si(111) by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy using step-graded AlGaN intermediate layers

In this work, we report on the growth by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) of GaN layers on AlN/Si(111) templates with step-graded AlGaN intermediate layers. First, we will discuss the optimization of the AlN/Si(111) templates and then we will discuss the incorporation of step-graded AlGaN intermediate layers. It is found that the growth stress in GaN on high-temperature (HT) AlN/Si(111) templates is compressive, although, due to relaxation, the stress we have measured is much lower than the theoretical value. In order to prevent the stress relaxation, step-graded AlGaN layers are introduced and a crack-free GaN epitaxial layer of thickness >1 μm is demonstrated. Under optimized growth conditions, the total layer stack, exceeding 2 μm in total, is kept under compressive stress, and the radius of the convex wafer bowing is as large as 119 m. The crystalline quality of the GaN layers is examined by high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), and the full-width-at-half maximums (FWHMs) of the x-ray rocking curve (0002) ω-scan and (−1015) ω-scan are 790 arc sec and 730 arc sec, respectively. It is found by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) that the step-graded AlGaN layers terminate or bend the dislocations at the interfaces.     

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.     

Study of the polarization photoluminescence of thick epitaxial GaN layers

Polarization photoluminescence spectra of gallium nitride were obtained. It follows from an analysis of the spectra that inhomogeneous broadening of the emission line having a half-width greater than 20 meV can be determined from the dispersion of the angles θ _c of the symmetry axes of the crystallites forming the epitaxial GaN layer, relative to the surface of the layer. Varying the angle of incidence, the focusing of the exciting laser beam, and the photoluminescence recording angle makes it possible to use polarization photoluminescence measurements for precision diagnostics of the quality of GaN layers. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 33, 778–780 (July 1999)     

The effect of AlN/AlGaN superlattices on crystal and optical properties of AlGaN epitaxial layers

We investigate the effect of AlN/AlGaN superlattices (SLs) on crystal and optical properties of AlGaN epitaxial layers. The result indicates that the crystal quality of AlGaN layers is consistent within a wide range of SLs thicknesses, while the optical properties are opposite. With SLs thickness decreasing from 20/44 to 17/36 and 15/29 nm, the full-width at half maximum of X-ray rocking curves for (0002)-and (1012)-plane of n-AlGaN layers grown on SLs are consistent of around 250 arcsec and 700 arcsec, respectively. Meanwhile, the center of the low optical transmittance band decreases from 326 to 279 nm and less than 266 nm as the SLs thickness decreases. 280 nm deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (DUV-LEDs) structures are further regrown on the n-AlGaN layers. The electroluminescent intensities of samples are 30% higher than that of the sample whose low optical transmittance band appears around 279 nm. Optical simulations reveal that the SLs acts as distributed Bragg reflectors, thus less photons of the corresponding wavelength escape from the sapphire backside.     

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.     

Effects of H2/NH3 flow-rate ratio on the luminescent, structural, and electrical properties of GaN epitaxial layers grown by MOCVD

GaN epitaxial layers were grown on sapphire substrates in a separate-flow reactor by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The flow-rate ratio of H₂ on the upper stream to NH₃ on the bottom stream is varied from 0.5 to 2. The growth condition and characterization of the GaN epitaxial layers are investigated in detail. The H₂ flow rate of the upper stream strongly affects the reactant gas flow pattern near the substrate surface and thus influences the quality of epitaxial layers. At the optimum H₂/NH₃ flow ratio of 1.0, we can obtain a good quality of GaN epitaxial layers which exhibit a strong near band-edge emis-sion in the 20 K photoluminescence (PL), a full width at half maximum of 66 meV for the 300 K PL, an electron mobility of 266 cm²/V-s and concentration of 1 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻³ at 300 K.     

图形蓝宝石基GaN性能的研究

在相同的腐蚀温度下,通过控制对蓝宝石衬底的化学腐蚀时间,以研究其对GaN光学性质的影响.测试结果表明:对蓝宝石衬底腐蚀50 min后,外延生长的GaN薄膜晶体质量及光学质量最优,x射线摇摆曲线中.其(0002)面及(10-12)面的半峰全宽分别降低至202.68 arcsec,300.24 arcsec.透射光谱中,其透射率最高,调制深度最大;光致发光谱的近带边发射峰强度最强,其半高全宽也降低到6.7 nm,几乎看不到任何黄光带.     

基于蓝宝石纳米图形衬底上氮化镓生长的研究

利用两步生长法在蓝宝石纳米图形衬底（NPSS）上生长得到高质量的氮化镓薄膜。通过XRD和SEM对薄膜质量的表征和研究发现,为得到高质量的氮化镓（GaN）薄膜,在NPSS上生长时得到的最优缓冲层厚度为15nm,而在微米级尺寸的图形衬底（MPSS）上得到的最优缓冲层厚度远大于15nm。同时,在NPSS上生长氮化镓薄膜的过程中观察到一个有趣的现象,即GaN在NPSS上生长的初始阶段,氮化镓晶粒主要在图形之间的平面区域生长,极少量的GaN在衬底图形的侧面上聚集生长。这一有趣的现象明显不同于GaN在MPSS上的生长过程。接着,又在NPSS上生长了GaN基LED结构,并对其光电性能进行了研究。     

Traps centers and deep defects contribution in current instabilities for AlGaN/GaN HEMT's on silicon and sapphire substrates

AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with Si and Al₂O₃ substrates reveals anomalies on I_ds-V_ds-T and I_gs-V_gs-T characteristics (degradation in drain current, kink effect, barrier height fluctuations, etc.). Stress and random telegraph signal (RTS) measurements prove the presence of trap centers responsible for drain current degradation. An explanation of the trapping mechanism responsible for current instabilities is proposed. Deep defects analysis performed by capacitance transient spectroscopy (C-DLTS), frequency dispersion of the output conductance (G_ds(f)), respectively, on gate/source and drain/source contacts and RTS prove the presence of deep defects localized, respectively, in the gate and in the channel regions. Defects detected by C-DLTS and G_ds(f) are strongly correlated, respectively, to barrier height inhomogeneities and kink anomalies. Gate current analysis confirms the presence of (G-R) centers acting like traps at the interface GaN/AlGaN. Finally, the localization of these traps defects is proposed.     

Influence of AlGaN deep level defects on AlGaN/GaN 2-DEG carrierconfinement

We have used low energy electron-excited nanoscale luminescence spectroscopy (LEEN) to detect the defects in each layer of AlGaN/GaN HEMT device structures and to correlate their effect on two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG) confinement. We investigated AlGaN/GaN heterostructures with different electrical properties using incident electron beam energies of 0.5 to 15 keV to probe electronic state transitions within each of the heterostructure layers. AlGaN heterostructures of 25 nm thickness and nominal 30% Al concentration grown on GaN buffer layers on sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy exhibited a range of polarization-induced electron densities and room temperature mobilities. In general, the spectra exhibit AlGaN band edge emission at ~3.8 eV or ~4.0 eV, GaN band edge emission at ~3.4 eV, yellow luminescence (YL) features at 2.18 eV and 2.34 eV, and a large emission in the infrared (<1.6 eV) from the GaN cap layer used to passivate the AlGaN outer surface. These heterostructures also show high strain in the 2 nm-thick GaN layer with evidence for a Franz-Keldysh red shift due to piezoelectric charging. The LEEN depth profiles reveal differences between the structures with and without 2-DEG confinement and highlight the importance of AlGaN defects in the near 2-DEG region     

Time-dependent degradation of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on silicon carbide

The AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) were grown on 4H-SiC substrates by metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition (MOCVD) with a range of Al compositions (30–35%) and AlGaN barrier thicknesses. Films with higher strains exhibited a time-dependent degradation of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) that varied from days to weeks. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements of the degraded films revealed a hexagonal cracking pattern with an increase in the medium-scale surface roughness. The localized strain relaxation of AlGaN barriers and increased roughness of the AlGaN/GaN interface and AlGaN surface result in a broad shoulder at the lower angle of the AlGaN peak and a loss of satellite fringes in the (0006) reflection x-ray diffraction (XRD) curve. This degradation raises serious questions with regard to reliability and survivability of AlGaN HFETs and may complicate device fabrication.     

Electrical characteristics of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on 4-in diameter sapphire substrate

AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) were fabricated and the uniformity of dc properties were studied for the first time on 4-in diameter sapphire substrate. A quarter of 4-in diameter AlGaN/GaN epitaxial wafer was used for the uniformity studies of HEMTs. The observed average maximum drain current density, extrinsic transconductance and threshold voltage values for HEMTs were 515 mA/mm, 197 mS/mm, and -2.30 V with standard deviations 9.34%, 4.82%, and 6.52%, respectively. The uniformity of Hall mobility across the 4-in wafer was 1322 cm/sup 2//Vs with a standard deviation of 4.27%. The uniformity of sheet resistance across 4-in diameter wafer, measured using Hall Effect was 575 /spl Omega//sq. with a standard deviation 9.01%. The uniformity of HEMTs dc properties are in good correlation with the electrical characteristics of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures, which was obtained from the Hall Effect and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements.     

Transient thermal characterization of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs grown on silicon

We studied a temperature increase and a heat transfer into a substrate in a pulsed operation of 0.5 length and 150 /spl mu/m gate width AlGaN/GaN HEMTs grown on silicon. A new transient electrical characterization method is described. In combination with an optical transient interferometric mapping technique and two-dimensional thermal modeling, these methods determine the device thermal resistance to be /spl sim/70 K/W after 400 ns from the start of a pulse. We also localized the high-electron mobility transistor heat source experimentally and we extracted a thermal boundary resistance at the silicon-nitride interface of about /spl sim/7/spl times/10/sup -8/ m/sup 2/K/W. Thermal coupling at this interface may substantially influence the device thermal resistance.     

Characterization of GaN epitaxial layers using

Cathodo luminescence (CL) properties of GaN heteroepitaxial layers, both undoped and Mg-doped, were studied by scanning electron microscopy. The GaN samples examined were grown on single crystal sapphire substrates by vapor phase epitaxy and contained different amounts of Mg. It was found that the CL intensity of a GaN specimen depends on its Mg concentration. As the amount of Mg in the GaN lattice increases, the spectral maximum shifts to longer wavelengths; as the full compensation level is approached, as indicated by an abrupt increase in resistivity, the overall CL intensity decreases to complete extinction. These effects are presumably due to the increased density of recombination centers, predominantly nonradiative, generated by the incorporation of Mg deep level impurities. These results established a basis for the qualitative characterization of the Mg distribution in GaN layers. This technique was applied to GaN metal-insulator (GaN:Mg)-n-type semi conductor (GaN) electroluminescent diodes in order to determine the nonuni formity of Mg distribution in the insulating layer. Relevant CL micrographs indicate that, in some cases, isolated conducting grains are embed-ded in an otherwise insulating matrix. This observation was correlated with specific device characteristics to provide a basis for rationalizing device performance.     

MOCVD方法在蓝宝石衬底上生长无应变InAlN/GaN异质结材料研究

In Al N/Ga N heterostructures were grown on sapphire substrates by low-pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition.The influences of NH3 flux and growth temperature on the In composition and morphologies of the In Al N were investigated by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy.It’s found that the In composition increases quickly with NH3 flux decrease.But it’s not sensitive to NH3 flux under higher flux.This suggests that lower NH3 flux induces a higher growth rate and an enhanced In incorporation.The In composition also increases with the growth temperatures decreasing,and the defects of the In Al N have close relation with In composition.Unstrained In Al N with In composition of 17% is obtained at NH3 flux of 500 sccm and growth temperature of790 °C.The In Al N/Ga N heterostructure high electron mobility transistor sample showed a high two-dimensional electron gas(2DEG) mobility of 1210 cm2/(V s) with the sheet density of 2.31013cm2 at room temperature.     

Analysis of Interface Scattering in AlGaN/GaN/InGaN/GaN Double-Heterojunction High-Electron-Mobility Transistors

This paper presents detailed investigations on the direct-current (DC) characteristics of an AlGaN/GaN/InGaN/GaN double-heterojunction high-electron-mobility transistor (DH-HEMT) using two-dimensional numerical analysis. In this work, the hot-electron effect is taken into account and implemented in the hydrodynamic model. The results indicate that carrier transport in this kind of device exhibits properties significantly different from that in a conventional AlGaN/GaN HEMT. Due to imperfections at the GaN/InGaN interface, scattering caused by the interface roughness, phonons, etc. inhibit the negative differential conductance in high electric field. In addition, the velocity increment of electrons around the gate edge is dominated by the overshoot effect rather than the phonon effect. The energy exchange between phonons and electrons, as presented in this paper, illustrates that the dissipated power is just a small portion of the exchanged energy. For further performance improvement, more lattice-matched material with strong polarization for the barrier layer is proposed.