Thermodynamic and kinetic processes involved in the growth of epitaxial GaN thin films
- Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)
Our experimental results using reactive magnetron sputtering, combined with earlier literature, are used to understand the thermodynamic and kinetic processes involved in GaN film growth and the limiting factors involved in the incorporation of nitrogen during the growth process. We show that GaN films fabricated with low pressure growth techniques ([lt]0.1 Torr) such as sputtering and molecular beam epitaxy are formed under metastable conditions with a nonequilibrium kinetically limited reaction. For these methods, the growth process is controlled by a competition between the forward reaction, which depends on the arrival of activated nitrogen species at the growing surface, and the reverse reaction whose rate is limited by the unusually large kinetic barrier of decomposition of GaN. In practice, the thermally activated rate of decomposition sets an upper bound to the growth temperature.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 6796982
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters; (United States), Vol. 62:11; ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GALLIUM NITRIDES
VAPOR PHASE EPITAXY
DECOMPOSITION
KINETICS
MAGNETRONS
METASTABLE STATES
SPUTTERING
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
THERMAL BARRIERS
THERMODYNAMICS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
ELECTRON TUBES
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ENERGY LEVELS
EPITAXY
EQUIPMENT
EXCITED STATES
GALLIUM COMPOUNDS
MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT
MICROWAVE TUBES
NITRIDES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PNICTIDES
360601* - Other Materials- Preparation & Manufacture