Lattice damage and compositional changes in Xe ion irradiated In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N (x = 0.32−1.0) single crystals

Journal Article · Tue Jun 28 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4954691· OSTI ID:22596682

Zhang, Limin; Peng, Jinxin; Ai, Wensi; Zhang, Jiandong; Wang, Tieshan ^[1]; Jiang, Weilin; Dissanayake, Amila; Zhu, Zihua; Shutthanandan, Vaithiyalingam ^[2]

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1. School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000 (China)
2. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352 (United States)

Lattice disorder and compositional changes in In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N (x = 0.32, 0.47, 0.7, 0.8, and 1.0) films on GaN/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} substrates, induced by room-temperature irradiation of 5 MeV Xe ions, have been investigated using both Rutherford backscattering spectrometry under ion-channeling conditions and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. The results show that for a fluence of 3 × 10{sup 13 }cm{sup −2}, the relative level of lattice disorder in In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N increases monotonically from 59% to 90% with increasing indium concentration x from 0.32 to 0.7; a further increase in x up to 1.0 leads to little increase in the disorder level. In contrast to Ga-rich In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N (x = 0.32 and 0.47), significant volume swelling of up to ∼25% accompanied with oxidation in In-rich In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N (x = 0.7, 0.8, and 1.0) is observed. In addition, irradiation-induced atomic mixing occurs at the interface of In-rich In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N and GaN. The results from this study indicate an extreme susceptibility of the high In-content In{sub x}Ga{sub 1-x}N to heavy-ion irradiation, and suggest that cautions must be exercised in applying ion-implantation techniques to these materials at room temperature. Further studies of the irradiation behavior at elevated temperatures are warranted.

• OSTI ID: 22596682
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 119, Issue 24; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); 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 OXIDES
CONCENTRATION RATIO
DAMAGE
GALLIUM NITRIDES
HEAVY IONS
INDIUM
INDIUM NITRIDES
ION CHANNELING
ION IMPLANTATION
IRRADIATION
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
MEV RANGE 01-10
MONOCRYSTALS
RUTHERFORD BACKSCATTERING SPECTROSCOPY
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
TIME-OF-FLIGHT METHOD
XENON IONS