Epitaxial growth and orientation of AlN thin films on Si(001) substrates deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering
- Thin Film Physics Division, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linkoeping University, Linkoeping SE-581 83 (Sweden)
Epitaxial domain formation and textured growth in AlN thin films deposited on Si(001) substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering was studied by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The films have a wurtzite type structure with a crystallographic orientation relationship to the silicon substrate of AlN(0001)(parallel sign)Si(001). The AlN film is observed to nucleate randomly on the Si surface and grows three dimensionally, forming columnar domains. The in-plane orientation reveals four domains with their a axes rotated by 15 deg. with respect to each other: AlN<1120>(parallel sign)Si[110], AlN<0110>(parallel sign)Si[110], AlN<1120>(parallel sign)Si[100], and AlN<0110>(parallel sign)Si[100] An explanation of the growth mode based on the large lattice mismatch and the topology of the substrate surface is proposed.
- OSTI ID:
- 20884939
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 100, Issue 12; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2402971; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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