Two-dimensional X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy study on the effect of magnetron sputtering atmosphere on GaN/SiC interface and gallium nitride thin film crystal structure

Journal Article · Sat Mar 21 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4914955· OSTI ID:22399318

Shen, Huaxiang ^[1]; Zhu, Guo-Zhen; Botton, Gianluigi A. ^[1]; Kitai, Adrian ^[1]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L7 (Canada)

The growth mechanisms of high quality GaN thin films on 6H-SiC by sputtering were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The XRD θ-2θ scans show that high quality (0002) oriented GaN was deposited on 6H-SiC by reactive magnetron sputtering. Pole figures obtained by 2D-XRD clarify that GaN thin films are dominated by (0002) oriented wurtzite GaN and (111) oriented zinc-blende GaN. A thin amorphous silicon oxide layer on SiC surfaces observed by STEM plays a critical role in terms of the orientation information transfer from the substrate to the GaN epilayer. The addition of H{sub 2} into Ar and/or N{sub 2} during sputtering can reduce the thickness of the amorphous layer. Moreover, adding 5% H{sub 2} into Ar can facilitate a phase transformation from amorphous to crystalline in the silicon oxide layer and eliminate the unwanted (33{sup ¯}02) orientation in the GaN thin film. Fiber texture GaN thin films can be grown by adding 10% H{sub 2} into N{sub 2} due to the complex reaction between H{sub 2} and N{sub 2}.

• OSTI ID: 22399318
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 11; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CRYSTAL GROWTH
CUBIC LATTICES
GALLIUM NITRIDES
HYDROGEN
INTERFACES
LAYERS
MAGNETRONS
ORIENTATION
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
SILICON CARBIDES
SILICON OXIDES
SPUTTERING
SUBSTRATES
SURFACES
TEXTURE
THIN FILMS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
TWO-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION