Epitaxy of an Al-Droplet-Free AlN Layer with Step-Flow Features by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Pan, Jianhai; Wang, Xinqiang; Chen, Guang; Liu, Shitao; Li, Feng; Xu, Fujun; Tang, Ning; Shen, Bo

doi:10.1088/0256-307x/28/6/068102

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(22 reference statements)

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“…The results demonstrate that the growth temperature is the most important factor, which strongly affects the surface morphology of MBE AME AlN epilayers. High temperatures enable Al adatoms to migrate across a larger distance on AlN growth surfaces [18]. High migration mobility of Al atoms results in the smooth surface with wider atomic steps.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In additional, the relationship between growth temperature and surface morphology was also studied. It is found that the migration ability of Al atoms on the surface during growth is enhanced as the growth temperature increases [18], resulting in the smooth surface morphology with clear step-flow growth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, a lower temperature is necessary for growth AlGaN/AlN related heterojunctions or fine structures below 1000 • C [15][16][17]. In such cases, the desorption rate of Al adatoms is much lower than Ga adatoms [18], and consequently it is easy for Al droplets to form on the epitaxial surface. The Al droplets strongly affect the subsequent epitaxy, resulting in the lower performance of optical or electrical devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Step-flow growth of Al droplet free AlN epilayers grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Li¹,

Li²,

Zhou³

et al. 2022

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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We have investigated an Al modulation epitaxy (AME) method to obtain step-flow growth of Al droplet free AlN layers by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). At the usual growth temperature of (Al)GaN/AlN heterostructures, Al atom migration and desorption rate are very low and consequently it is very difficult to avoid the formation of Al droplets on AlN growth front by conventional MBE growth method. By adopting the AME growth method, such a difficulty has been effectively overcome. and step flow growth mode of AlN has been clearly observed. By optimizing the AME growth time sequence, namely, AlN growth time and N radical beam treatment time, Al droplet free AlN layers with step flow growth characteristics have been obtained, with atomic flat surfaces and an average atomic step width of ~118 nm at 970~1000 oC, which is still suitable to grow (Al)GaN/AlN heterostructures by MBE.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Step-flow growth of Al droplet free AlN epilayers grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Li¹,

Li²,

Zhou³

et al. 2022

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.

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“…In addition, we have analyzed the results obtained by Pan et al on the growth of thick AlN epilayers using PA MBE at various Al/N 2 * ratio [51]. In this work, AlN layers with a typical thickness of 600-800 nm were grown at the same growth rate of 0.6 ML s −1 .…”

Section: Comparative Analysis Of Stresses In Aln Layers Grown In This...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress control in thick AlN/c-Al₂O₃ templates grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Koshelev¹,

Нечаев²,

Brunkov³

et al. 2021

Semicond. Sci. Technol.

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Stress evolution was studied in up to ~3 µm thick AlN templates, comprising ∼65 nm thick AlN nucleation layers (NLs) and thick buffer layers (BLs), grown using different growth modes and conditions by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA MBE) on c-Al 2 O 3 . Growth of both the NL and BL in a standard PA MBE mode at N-rich conditions (at flux ratio Al/N 2 * ∼ 0.5) led to instant generation of a relatively high tensile stress (∼1.5 GPa) which is maintained throughout the entire growth. On the contrary, NLs, grown using a migration-enhanced epitaxy (MEE), demonstrated a transition from the initial compressive stress to stress-free growth, which is usually observed in the Volmer-Weber films. Further growth of thick AlN BLs on the MEE-NLs at various Al/N 2 * ratios revealed a wide variety of stress evolution processes. The BL growth by using metal-modulated epitaxy (MME) at Me-rich conditions with Al/N 2 * ∼ 1.33 led to a gradual decrease in the initial compressive stress in the 2D AlN layers, whereas standard PA MBE growth of 3D BL at N-rich conditions (Al/N 2 * ∼ 0.92) exhibited a fast transition from the initial compressive stress to tensile stress. Moreover, we succeeded in achieving the quasi-stress-free growth of a 3.1 µm thick AlN BL using the MME growth mode at the optimum flux ratio Al/N 2 * = 1.05. These results were compared with the results of other authors and explained using a kinetic approach to description of stress evolution during PA MBE of AlN/c-Al 2 O 3 templates, taking into account several simultaneously acting competitive mechanisms of continuous generation of tensile and compressive stresses.

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Residual stress in AlN films grown on sapphire substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

Rong

Wang

Chen

et al. 2016

Superlattices and Microstructures

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Epitaxy of an Al-Droplet-Free AlN Layer with Step-Flow Features by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

Step-flow growth of Al droplet free AlN epilayers grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Step-flow growth of Al droplet free AlN epilayers grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Stress control in thick AlN/c-Al₂O₃ templates grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Residual stress in AlN films grown on sapphire substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

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Epitaxy of an Al-Droplet-Free AlN Layer with Step-Flow Features by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

Step-flow growth of Al droplet free AlN epilayers grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Step-flow growth of Al droplet free AlN epilayers grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Stress control in thick AlN/c-Al2O3 templates grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Residual stress in AlN films grown on sapphire substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

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Stress control in thick AlN/c-Al₂O₃ templates grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy