Properties of InN layers grown on 6H–SiC(0001) by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

We study the impact of different buffer layers and growth conditions on the properties of InN layers grown on 6H–SiC(0001) by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Both GaN and AlN buffer layers result in a significant improvement of the structural quality compared to InN layers grown directly on the SiC substrate. However, to obtain layers exhibiting a high structural integrity, smooth surface morphology, high mobility and strong band-to-band photoluminescence, contradicting growth conditions are found to be required. Furthermore, since InN(0001) dissociates already at temperatures below the onset of In desorption, it is difficult to avoid In accumulation and inclusions of crystalline In in the layer under In-rich conditions.

Optimization of the surface and structural quality of N-face InN grown by molecular beam epitaxy

“…15͒ and are in general slightly better than those realized for In-face InN. 14,25 The significance of choosing optimum conditions of low growth temperature and In-rich conditions for the optical properties of N-face InN is illustrated in Fig. 2.…”

“…However, the low InN decomposition temperature presents significant growth challenges, limiting the growth temperature to Ϸ500°C. 13,14 Most recently, the challenges of InN deposition have been addressed by growing films along the thermally more stable N-face orientation, 15,16 where growth temperatures up to 600°C seem feasible. Higher structural quality InN films with sharp step-flow surface features may be achieved, even under N-rich growth conditions.…”

Growth of wurtzite InN on bulk In2O3(111) wafers

“…5 InN has been predominantly grown on buffered sapphire, Si, and SiC wafers. 6,7 In all these cases, the in-plane lattice mismatch Da=a between InN and the template is significantly larger than 10%. Recently, we demonstrated InN films grown on bulk ZnO substrates where Da=a is reduced to 8.89%.…”

MOVPE InN on a 3c‐SiC/Si(111) template formed by C + ‐ion implantation into Si(111)

“…As can be seen in Table 2, electrical and optical properties of the InN film grown on the 3c-SiC/Si template are superior to those for the film grown on the un-nitrided sapphire but inferior to those for the film grown on the nitrided sapphir. Also shown in Table 2 are data for the InN film grown on a bulk SiC by the pa-MBE reported by Ive et al [4]. The carrier concentration data for the InN film grown on the 3c-SiC/Si template is lower than that for the InN film grown on a bulk SiC, although the mobility is inferior.…”