Atomic Layer Deposition of AlN on Graphene

Abstract

Graphene is a material with great promise for several applications within electronics. However, using graphene in any such application requires its integration in a stack of thin layers of materials. The ideal structure of graphene has a fully saturated surface without any binding sites for chemisorption of growth species, making film growth on graphene highly challenging. Herein, an attempt to deposit very thin layers of AlN using an atomic layer deposition approach is reported. It is demonstrated using X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy that Al–N are formed in the films deposited on graphene and shown by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy that the films have an island morphology. These results may be considered promising toward the development of a growth protocol for AlN on graphene and possibly also for 2D AlN fabrication.

Atomic layer deposition of AlN on different SiC surfaces

“…To investigate the effect of the initial stage of nucleation on the AlN film properties, AlN layers were deposited on the (0001) face of on-axis 4H-SiC and compared with AlN thin films deposited on 8 off-axis 4H-SiC(0001) at substrate temperatures of 400 o C and 450 C. The relatively narrow substrate temperature range was chosen based on the saturation curve of aluminium precursor obtained at 400 -425C and reported in our previous work [7].…”

Morphological evolution of thin AlN films grown by atomic layer deposition

“…The first two types were of 4H-SiC with 4 misorientation toward [11 2 0], Si-and C-terminated; the next two were of on-axis 4H-SiC, also Si and C-terminated. The last one was of 4H-SiC with 1-2 ML graphene grown by sublimation [9,10]. Before loading into the reactor, the 4H-SiC substrates were cleaned by sequentially boiling in organic solvents (acetone and ethanol) for 3 min and dipping in HF:H2O (1:1) for 1 min to remove the oxide on the surfaces, rinsing with DI water, and drying with high-purity argon gas; the substrate of 4H-SiC(0001) with 1-2 ML graphene was used as received.…”