We successfully fabricated a template with an air tunnel between a patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) and GaN using a photoresist mask. The photoresist mask was subjected to plasma etching to induce the growth of the GaN nucleus at the top of the mask by exposing only the top of the PSS lens to the mask height. The carbon profile of the photoresist mask was checked by secondary ion mass spectrometry to detect the presence or absence of carbon in the GaN template during the process. In order to confirm the carbon’s effect on the epitaxially grown GaN template, the XRD was confirmed by the pole figure and the rocking curve. In order to confirm the change of the energy level of GaN by forming a trap in the energy band by carbon, we confirmed the effect of the carbon by comparing the degree of pure GaN.
Patterned sapphire substrates are composed of multiple planes, leading to the undesirable polycrystalline growth of gallium nitride (GaN) during template deposition. However, patterned sapphire substrates and templates with good crystalline quality would be useful for increasing the light extraction efficiency in light-emitting diodes. In this study, a silicon dioxide (SiO2) mask was selectively introduced onto the lenses of a patterned sapphire substrate to suppress the growth of polycrystalline GaN. The SiO2 mask prevented the negative influence of the patterned sapphire substrate on GaN growth under various conditions. High-resolution x-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the GaN template grew as a single crystal in the presence of the SiO2 mask. Furthermore, the compressive stress generated in the GaN template was relieved due to the suppression of polycrystalline growth.
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