Effect of thickness on the microstructure of GaN films on Al2O3 (0001) by laser molecular beam epitaxy

doi:10.1088/1674-1056/20/10/108102

Abstract Heteroepitaxial GaN films are grown on sapphire (0001) substrates using laser molecular beam epitaxy. The growth processes are in-situ monitored by reflection high energy electron diffraction. It is revealed that the growth mode of GaN transformed from three-dimensional (3D) island mode to two-dimensional (2D) layer-by-layer mode with the increase of thickness. This paper investigates the interfacial strain relaxation of GaN films by analysing their diffraction patterns. Calculation shows that the strain is completely relaxed when the thickness reaches 15 nm. The surface morphology evolution indicates that island merging and reduction of the island-edge barrier provide an effective way to make GaN films follow a 2D layer-by-layer growth mode. The 110-nm GaN films with a 2D growth mode have smooth regular hexagonal shapes. The X-ray diffraction indicates that thickness has a significant effect on the crystallized quality of GaN thin films.

Keywords: reflection high energy electron diffraction thin films laser molecular beam epitaxy GaN sapphires

Received: 03 March 2011
Revised: 18 April 2011
Accepted manuscript online:

PACS:	81.16.Mk	(Laser-assisted deposition)
	61.05.jh	(Low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED))
	68.55.-a	(Thin film structure and morphology)
	78.55.Cr	(III-V semiconductors)

Fund: Project supported by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (Grant No. 61363) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 50772019 and 61021061).

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Liu Ying-Ying(刘莹莹), Zhu Jun(朱俊), Luo Wen-Bo(罗文博), Hao Lan-Zhong(郝兰众), Zhang Ying(张鹰), and Li Yan-Rong(李言荣) Effect of thickness on the microstructure of GaN films on Al₂O₃ (0001) by laser molecular beam epitaxy 2011 Chin. Phys. B 20 108102

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Effect of thickness on the microstructure of GaN films on Al2O3 (0001) by laser molecular beam epitaxy

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Effect of thickness on the microstructure of GaN films on Al₂O₃ (0001) by laser molecular beam epitaxy