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Title: Growth evolution of AlN films on silicon (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

AlN films with various thicknesses have been grown on Si(111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The surface morphology and structural property of the as-grown AlN films have been investigated carefully to comprehensively explore the epitaxial behavior. The ∼2 nm-thick AlN film initially grown on Si substrate exhibits an atomically flat surface with a root-mean-square surface roughness of 0.23 nm. As the thickness increases, AlN grains gradually grow larger, causing a relatively rough surface. The surface morphology of ∼120 nm-thick AlN film indicates that AlN islands coalesce together and eventually form AlN layers. The decreasing growth rate from 240 to 180 nm/h is a direct evidence that the growth mode of AlN films grown on Si substrates by PLD changes from the islands growth to the layer growth. The evolution of AlN films throughout the growth is studied deeply, and its corresponding growth mechanism is hence proposed. These results are instructional for the growth of high-quality nitride films on Si substrates by PLD, and of great interest for the fabrication of AlN-based devices.

Authors:
; ; ; ;  [1];  [1]
  1. State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641 (China)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22410190
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Journal of Applied Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 117; Journal Issue: 18; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0021-8979
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; ALUMINIUM NITRIDES; CRYSTAL GROWTH; CRYSTAL STRUCTURE; ENERGY BEAM DEPOSITION; EPITAXY; LASER RADIATION; LAYERS; PULSED IRRADIATION; ROUGHNESS; SILICON; SUBSTRATES; SURFACES; THICKNESS; THIN FILMS

Citation Formats

Wang, Haiyan, Wang, Wenliang, Yang, Weijia, Zhou, Shizhong, Lin, Zhiting, Li, Guoqiang, and Department of Electronic Materials, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641. Growth evolution of AlN films on silicon (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4919912.
Wang, Haiyan, Wang, Wenliang, Yang, Weijia, Zhou, Shizhong, Lin, Zhiting, Li, Guoqiang, & Department of Electronic Materials, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641. Growth evolution of AlN films on silicon (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4919912
Wang, Haiyan, Wang, Wenliang, Yang, Weijia, Zhou, Shizhong, Lin, Zhiting, Li, Guoqiang, and Department of Electronic Materials, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641. 2015. "Growth evolution of AlN films on silicon (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4919912.
@article{osti_22410190,
title = {Growth evolution of AlN films on silicon (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition},
author = {Wang, Haiyan and Wang, Wenliang and Yang, Weijia and Zhou, Shizhong and Lin, Zhiting and Li, Guoqiang and Department of Electronic Materials, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641},
abstractNote = {AlN films with various thicknesses have been grown on Si(111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The surface morphology and structural property of the as-grown AlN films have been investigated carefully to comprehensively explore the epitaxial behavior. The ∼2 nm-thick AlN film initially grown on Si substrate exhibits an atomically flat surface with a root-mean-square surface roughness of 0.23 nm. As the thickness increases, AlN grains gradually grow larger, causing a relatively rough surface. The surface morphology of ∼120 nm-thick AlN film indicates that AlN islands coalesce together and eventually form AlN layers. The decreasing growth rate from 240 to 180 nm/h is a direct evidence that the growth mode of AlN films grown on Si substrates by PLD changes from the islands growth to the layer growth. The evolution of AlN films throughout the growth is studied deeply, and its corresponding growth mechanism is hence proposed. These results are instructional for the growth of high-quality nitride films on Si substrates by PLD, and of great interest for the fabrication of AlN-based devices.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4919912},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22410190}, journal = {Journal of Applied Physics},
issn = {0021-8979},
number = 18,
volume = 117,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu May 14 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Thu May 14 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}