Optical phonon modes in Al{sub 1−x}Sc{sub x}N

Journal Article · Tue Jan 07 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4861034· OSTI ID:22271306

Deng, Ruopeng; Gall, Daniel ^[1]; Jiang, Kai ^[2]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180 (United States)
2. Department of Electronic Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241 (China)

Optical phonons are measured to probe the origins of the reported anomalously high piezoelectric response in aluminum scandium nitride (Al{sub 1−x}Sc{sub x}N). Epitaxial layers with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.16 deposited on sapphire(0001) exhibit a refractive index below the band gap, which increases from 2.03 for x = 0 to 2.16 for x = 0.16, corresponding to a dielectric constant ε{sub ∞} = 4.15 + 3.2x. Raman scattering shows that zone-center E{sub 2}(H) and A{sub 1}(TO) phonon modes shift to lower frequencies with increasing x, following linear relationships: ω(E{sub 2}(H)) = 658–233x (cm{sup −1}) and ω(A{sub 1}(TO)) = 612–159x (cm{sup −1}). Similarly, zone-center E{sub 1}(TO) and A{sub 1}(LO) phonon mode frequencies obtained from specular polarized infrared reflectance measurements red-shift to ω(E{sub 1}(TO)) = 681–209x (cm{sup −1}) and ω(A{sub 1}(LO)) = 868–306x (cm{sup −1}). The measured bond angle decreases linearly from 108.2° to 106.0°, while the length of the two metal-nitrogen bonds increase by 3.2% and 2.6%, as x increases from 0 to 0.16. This is associated with a 3%–8% increase in the Born effective charge and a simultaneous 6% decrease in the covalent metal-N bond strength, as determined from the measured vibrational frequencies described with a Valence-Coulomb-Force-Field model. The overall results indicate that bonding in Al-rich Al{sub 1−x}Sc{sub x}N qualitatively follows the trends expected from mixing wurtzite AlN with metastable hexagonal ScN. However, extrapolation suggests non-linear composition dependencies in bond angle, length, and character for x ≥ 0.2, leading to a structural instability that may be responsible for the reported steep increase in the piezoelectric response.

• OSTI ID: 22271306
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 1; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALUMINIUM NITRIDES
BOND ANGLE
CONCENTRATION RATIO
CUBIC LATTICES
EFFECTIVE CHARGE
EPITAXY
HEXAGONAL LATTICES
LAYERS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PERMITTIVITY
PHONONS
PIEZOELECTRICITY
RAMAN EFFECT
RED SHIFT
REFRACTIVE INDEX
SAPPHIRE
SCANDIUM NITRIDES
VALENCE