Epitaxial growth of Sc{sub 2}O{sub 3} films on GaN

Journal Article · Mon Aug 28 04:00:00 EDT 2006 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2270058· OSTI ID:20883199

Herrero, A M; Gila, B P; Abernathy, C R; Pearton, S J; Craciun, V; Siebein, K; Ren, F ^[1]

---

1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (United States)

Thin films of scandium oxide were epitaxially deposited on GaN via molecular beam epitaxy using elemental Sc and an oxygen plasma. After growth, the Sc{sub 2}O{sub 3} films were annealed at a temperature of 800 deg. C for 5 min in the growth chamber. The structural quality of Sc{sub 2}O{sub 3} films, before and after annealing, was characterized using high-resolution x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). AFM of the films revealed smooth surfaces with 0.38 nm root mean square roughness and show evidence of step-flow growth. The rocking curve and reflectivity scans of the films reveal that the Sc{sub 2}O{sub 3}/GaN interface is abrupt and that it remains so after annealing. Pole figure and grazing incidence {theta}-2{theta} measurements show that the films are very textured along the c axis of the GaN substrate. HRTEM produced lattice images of the Sc{sub 2}O{sub 3}/GaN interface illustrating the single crystal growth of the Sc{sub 2}O{sub 3} films on the GaN.

• OSTI ID: 20883199
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 89; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ANNEALING
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
CRYSTAL GROWTH
FERROELECTRIC MATERIALS
GALLIUM NITRIDES
IMAGES
INTERFACES
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
MONOCRYSTALS
OXYGEN
PLASMA
REFLECTIVITY
ROUGHNESS
SCANDIUM OXIDES
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SUBSTRATES
TEXTURE
THIN FILMS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION