Ion Beam Study of Early Stages of Growth of GaN films on Sapphire

Abstract

An innovative approach for in-situ characterization has been used in this work to investigate the composition, growth mode, morphology and crystalline ordering of the early stages of growth of GaN films grown on sapphire by MOCVD for substrate temperatures in the range of 450°C to 1050°C. We have performed in-situ characterization by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS), Ion Channeling, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and Low Energy Electron Diffraction. Ex-situ the films have been characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and thickness profilometry. The films have been grown in an in-house designed and build MOCVD reactor that is attached by UHV lines to the analysis facilities. RBS analysis indicated that the films have the correct stoichiometry, have variable thickness and for low substrate temperature completely cover the substrate while for temperatures 850°C and higher islands are formed that may cover as few as 5 percent of the substrate. From Ion Channeling and LEED we have determined the crystallographic phase to be wurtzite. The crystalline quality increases with higher deposition temperature and with thickness. The films are epitaxialy grown with the <0001> crystallographic axis and planes of the GaN films aligned with the sapphire within 0.2 degrees.