中国物理B ›› 2022, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (3): 38103-038103.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/ac3bad

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Characterization of the N-polar GaN film grown on C-plane sapphire and misoriented C-plane sapphire substrates by MOCVD

Xiaotao Hu(胡小涛)1,2, Yimeng Song(宋祎萌)4, Zhaole Su(苏兆乐)1,2, Haiqiang Jia(贾海强)1,2,3, Wenxin Wang(王文新)1,3, Yang Jiang(江洋)1,†, Yangfeng Li(李阳锋)1,‡, and Hong Chen(陈弘)1,3,5,§   

  1. 1 Key Laboratory for Renewable Energy, Beijing Key Laboratory for New Energy Materials and Devices, Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
    2 School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
    3 Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan 523808, China;
    4 School of Mathematics and Physics, Beijing Key Laboratory for Magneto-Photoelectrical Composite and Interface Science, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China;
    5 College of Materials Science and Opto-Electronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • 收稿日期:2021-09-28 修回日期:2021-11-01 接受日期:2021-11-20 出版日期:2022-02-22 发布日期:2022-02-24
  • 通讯作者: Yang Jiang, Yangfeng Li, Hong Chen E-mail:jiangyang@iphy.ac.cn;liyangfeng12@mails.ucas.ac.cn;hchen@iphy.ac.cn
  • 基金资助:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61991441), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB33000000), and Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences. We thank Yang X A from the Advanced Materials Laboratory, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for the experimental work of scanning electron microscope (SEM Sirion).

Characterization of the N-polar GaN film grown on C-plane sapphire and misoriented C-plane sapphire substrates by MOCVD

Xiaotao Hu(胡小涛)1,2, Yimeng Song(宋祎萌)4, Zhaole Su(苏兆乐)1,2, Haiqiang Jia(贾海强)1,2,3, Wenxin Wang(王文新)1,3, Yang Jiang(江洋)1,†, Yangfeng Li(李阳锋)1,‡, and Hong Chen(陈弘)1,3,5,§   

  1. 1 Key Laboratory for Renewable Energy, Beijing Key Laboratory for New Energy Materials and Devices, Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
    2 School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
    3 Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan 523808, China;
    4 School of Mathematics and Physics, Beijing Key Laboratory for Magneto-Photoelectrical Composite and Interface Science, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China;
    5 College of Materials Science and Opto-Electronic Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2021-09-28 Revised:2021-11-01 Accepted:2021-11-20 Online:2022-02-22 Published:2022-02-24
  • Contact: Yang Jiang, Yangfeng Li, Hong Chen E-mail:jiangyang@iphy.ac.cn;liyangfeng12@mails.ucas.ac.cn;hchen@iphy.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61991441), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB33000000), and Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences. We thank Yang X A from the Advanced Materials Laboratory, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for the experimental work of scanning electron microscope (SEM Sirion).

摘要: Gallium nitride (GaN) thin film of the nitrogen polarity (N-polar) was grown on C-plane sapphire and misoriented C-plane sapphire substrates respectively by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The misorientation angle is off-axis from C-plane toward M-plane of the substrates, and the angle is 2° and 4° respectively. The nitrogen polarity was confirmed by examining the images of the scanning electron microscope before and after the wet etching in potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution. The morphology was studied by the optical microscope and atomic force microscope. The crystalline quality was characterized by the x-ray diffraction. The lateral coherence length, the tilt angle, the vertical coherence length, and the vertical lattice-strain were acquired using the pseudo-Voigt function to fit the x-ray diffraction curves and then calculating with four empirical formulae. The lateral coherence length increases with the misorientation angle, because higher step density and shorter distance between adjacent steps can lead to larger lateral coherence length. The tilt angle increases with the misorientation angle, which means that the misoriented substrate can degrade the identity of crystal orientation of the N-polar GaN film. The vertical lattice-strain decreases with the misorientation angle. The vertical coherence length does not change a lot as the misorientation angle increases and this value of all samples is close to the nominal thickness of the N-polar GaN layer. This study helps to understand the influence of the misorientation angle of misoriented C-plane sapphire on the morphology, the crystalline quality, and the microstructure of N-polar GaN films.

关键词: metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), misoriented sapphire substrate, misorientation angle, x-ray diffraction, N-polar GaN

Abstract: Gallium nitride (GaN) thin film of the nitrogen polarity (N-polar) was grown on C-plane sapphire and misoriented C-plane sapphire substrates respectively by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The misorientation angle is off-axis from C-plane toward M-plane of the substrates, and the angle is 2° and 4° respectively. The nitrogen polarity was confirmed by examining the images of the scanning electron microscope before and after the wet etching in potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution. The morphology was studied by the optical microscope and atomic force microscope. The crystalline quality was characterized by the x-ray diffraction. The lateral coherence length, the tilt angle, the vertical coherence length, and the vertical lattice-strain were acquired using the pseudo-Voigt function to fit the x-ray diffraction curves and then calculating with four empirical formulae. The lateral coherence length increases with the misorientation angle, because higher step density and shorter distance between adjacent steps can lead to larger lateral coherence length. The tilt angle increases with the misorientation angle, which means that the misoriented substrate can degrade the identity of crystal orientation of the N-polar GaN film. The vertical lattice-strain decreases with the misorientation angle. The vertical coherence length does not change a lot as the misorientation angle increases and this value of all samples is close to the nominal thickness of the N-polar GaN layer. This study helps to understand the influence of the misorientation angle of misoriented C-plane sapphire on the morphology, the crystalline quality, and the microstructure of N-polar GaN films.

Key words: metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), misoriented sapphire substrate, misorientation angle, x-ray diffraction, N-polar GaN

中图分类号:  (III-V semiconductors)

  • 81.05.Ea
81.20.Ka (Chemical synthesis; combustion synthesis) 87.64.Bx (Electron, neutron and x-ray diffraction and scattering) 87.64.Aa (Computer simulation)