Effect of interface nucleation time of the GaN nucleation layer on the crystal quality of GaN film

Guo Rui-Hua; Lu Tai-Ping; Jia Zhi-Gang; Shang Lin; Zhang Hua; Wang Rong; Zhai Guang-Mei; Xu Bing-She

doi:10.7498/aps.64.127305

Abstract

In this paper, the influences of the growth time of low-temperature (LT) GaN nucleation layer on the crystal quality and optical properties of GaN film are investigated. It is found that the optimal LT nucleation layer growth time can effectively reduce the crystal defects and is favorable to forming the annihilation of dislocations. GaN films are grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Crystal quality and optical properties are characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), and photoluminescence spectra, respectively. In the AFM images, the island density decreases as growth time increases, while the size of island becomes larger and the uniformity of island size deteriorates as growth time increases, leading to the phenomenon that the number of interfaces formed during the nucleation island coalescence, first decrease and then increase as detected by SEM, which also induces the screw dislocation density and edge dislocation density to first decrease and then increase as measured by HRXRD. This first-decrease-and-then-increase variation trend is consistent with the first-increase-and-then-decrease variation trend of the ratio of the band edge emission peak intensity to the yellow luminescence peak intensity tested by photoluminescence, which is confirmed by HRXRD. It is shown that GaN islands with different sizes and densities could lead to different mechanisms of dislocation evolution, thereby forming GaN epitaxial layers with different dislocation densities and optical properties. Through controlling the nucleation time, GaN films with the smallest dislocation density could be obtained.

Keywords:

low temperature nucleation layer /
metal-organic chemical vapor deposition /
gallium nitride /
dislocation

Authors and contacts

1.
Key Laboratory of Interface Science and Engineering in Advanced Materials Ministry of Education and Shanxi Province, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China;
2.
Research Center of Advanced Materials Science and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Funds: Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61475110, 61404089, 21471111), the Open Research Fund of Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Solar Cell Materials and Technology, Changzhou University, China (Grant No. 201205), the Key Science and Technology Innovative Research Team of Shanxi Province, China (Grant No. 2012041011), and the Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province, China (Grant No. 2014021019-1).

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[28]	Chierchia R, Böttcher T, Heinke H, Einfeldt S, Figge S, Hommel D 2003 J. Appl. Phys. 93 8918
[29]	Zheng X H, Chen H, Yan Z B, Han Y J, Yu H B, Li D S, Huang Q, Zhou J M 2003 J. Cryst. Growth 255 63
[30]	Arslan E, Ozturk M K, Duygulu Ö, Kaya A A, Ozcelik S, Ozbay E 2009 Appl. Phys. A 94 73
[31]	Saron K M A, Hashim M R, Allam N K 2013 J. Appl. Phys. 113 124304
[32]	Zhang L L, Liu Z H, Xiu X Q, Zhang R, Xie Z L 2013 Acta Phys. Sin. 62 208101 (in Chinese) [张李骊, 刘战辉, 修向前, 张荣, 谢自力 2013 物理学报 62 208101]
[33]	Cao R T, Xu S R, Zhang J C, Zhao Y, Xue J S, Ha W, Zhang S, Cui P S, Wen H J, Chen X 2014 Chin. Phys. B 23 047804
[34]	Zheng Z Y, Chen Z M, Wu H L, Chen Y D, Huang S J, Fan B F, Xian Y L, Wu Z S, Wang G, Jiang H 2014 J. Cryst. Growth 387 52
[35]	Fang Z L, Kang J Y, Shen W Z 2008 J. Phys. Chem. C 112 17652
[36]	Xu S R, Hao Y, Zhang J C, Jiang T, Yang L N, Lu X L, Lin Z Y 2013 Nano Lett. 13 3654
[37]	Lu T P, Ma Z G, Du C H, Fang Y T, Wu H Y, Jiang Y, Wang L, Dai L G, Jia H Q, Liu W M, Chen H 2014 Sci. Rep. 4 6131
[38]	Benamara M, Liliental-Weber Z, Kellermann S, Swider W, Washburn J, Mazur J, Bourret-Courchesne E D 2000 J. Cryst. Growth 218 447
[39]	Masataka I, Naoki F, Narihito O, Krishnan B, Motoaki I, Satoshi K, Hiroshi A, Isamu A, Tadashi N, Takashi T, Akira B 2007 J. Cryst. Growth 300 136
[40]	Zhao L B, Yu T J, Wu J J, Dai T, Yang Z J, Zhang G Y 2010 Appl. Surf. Sci. 256 2236

Cited By

[1]	Jia H Q, Guo L W, Wang W X, Chen H 2009 Adv. Mater. 21 4641
[2]	Xu B S, Zhai L Y, Liang J, Ma S F, Jia H S, Liu X G 2006 J. Cryst. Growth 291 34
[3]	Chen W C, Tang H L, Luo P, Ma W W, Xu X D, Qian X B, Jiang D P, Wu F, Wang J Y, Xu J 2014 Acta Phys. Sin. 63 068103 (in Chinese) [陈伟超, 唐慧丽, 罗平, 麻尉蔚, 徐晓东, 钱小波, 姜大朋, 吴锋, 王静雅, 徐军 2014 物理学报 63 068103]
[4]	Bao H Q, Li H, Wang G, Song B, Wang W J, Chen X L 2008 J. Cryst. Growth 310 2955
[5]	Nakamura S 1991 Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 30 1705
[6]	Zhang J F, Nie Y H, Zhou Y B, Tian K, Ha W, Xiao M, Zhang J C, Hao Y 2014 Chin. Phys. B 23 068102
[7]	Lu T P, Li S T, Liu C, Zhang K, Xu Y Q, Tong J H, Wu L J, Wang H L, Yang X D, Yin Y, Xiao G W, Zhou Y G 2012 Appl. Phys. Lett. 100 141106
[8]	Xu B S, Yang D, Wang F, Liang J, Ma S F, Liu X G 2006 Appl. Phys. Lett. 89 074106
[9]	Zhong C T, Yu T J, Yan J, Chen Z Z, Zhang G Y 2013 Chin. Phys. B 22 117804
[10]	Wang T, Shirahama T, Sun H B, Wang H X, Bai J, Sakai S, Misawa H H 2000 Appl. Phys. Lett. 76 2220
[11]	Lu T P, Li S T, Zhang K, Liu C, Xiao G W, Zhou Y G, Zheng S W, Yin Y A, Wu L J, Wang H L, Yang X D 2011 Chin. Phys. B 20 098503
[12]	Kim Y, Subramanya S G, Siegle H, Krug R J, Perlin P, Weber E R 2000 J. Appl. Phys. 88 6032
[13]	Wuu W S, Horng R H, Tseng W H, Lin W T, Kung C Y 2000 J. Cryst. Growth 220 235
[14]	Li S T, Jiang F Y, Fan G H, Fang W Q, Wang L 2007 Physica B 391 169
[15]	Koleske D D, Coltrin M E, Cross K C, Mitchell C C, Allerman A A 2004 J. Cryst. Growth 273 86
[16]	Koleske D D, Fischer A J, Allerman A A, Mitchell C C, Cross K C, Kurtz S R, Figiel J J, Fullmer K W, Breiland W G 2002 Appl. Phys. Lett. 81 1940
[17]	Chen J, Zhang S M, Zhang B S, Zhu J J, Shen X M, Feng G, Liu J P, Wang Y T, Yang H, Zheng W C 2003 J. Cryst. Growth 256 252
[18]	Li X B, Wu J J, Liu N L, Han T, Kang X N, Yu T J, Zhang G Y 2014 Mater. Lett. 132 94
[19]	Heying B, Wu X H, Keller S, Li Y, Kapolnek D, Keller B P, DenBaars S P, Speck J S 1996 Appl. Phys. Lett. 68 643
[20]	Xu S R, Hao Y, Zhang J C, Zhou X W, Yang L A, Zhang J F, Duan H T, Li Z M, Wei M, Hu S G, Cao Y R, Zhu Q W, Xu Z H, Gu W P 2009 J. Cryst. Growth 311 3622
[21]	Zhang Y, Xie Z L, Wang J, Tao T, Zhang R, Liu B, Chen P, Han P, Shi Y, Zheng Y L 2013 Acta Phys. Sin. 62 056101 (in Chinese) [张韵, 谢自力, 王健, 陶涛, 张荣, 刘斌, 陈鹏, 韩平, 施毅, 郑有炓 2013 物理学报 62 056101]
[22]	Zielińska-Rohozińska E, Regulska M, Harutyunyan V S, Pakula K, Borowski J 2002 Mater. Sci. Engin. B 91-92 441
[23]	Wang J X, Wang L S, Yang S Y, Li H J, Zhao G J, Zhang H, Wei H Y, Jiao C M, Zhu Q S, Wang Z G 2014 Chin. Phys. B 23 026801
[24]	Xu P Q, Jiang Y, Ma Z G, Deng Z, Lu T P, Du C H, Fang Y T, Zuo P, Chen H 2013 Chin. Phys. Lett. 30 028101
[25]	Dunn C G, Koch E F 1957 Acta Metall. 5 548
[26]	Taniyasu Y, Kasu M, Makimoto T 2007 J. Cryst. Growth 298 310
[27]	Metzger T, Höpler R, Born E, Ambacher O, Stutzmann M, Stömmer R, Schuster M, Göbel H, Christiansen S, Albrecht M, Strunk H P 1998 Philos. Mag. A 77 1013
[28]	Chierchia R, Böttcher T, Heinke H, Einfeldt S, Figge S, Hommel D 2003 J. Appl. Phys. 93 8918
[29]	Zheng X H, Chen H, Yan Z B, Han Y J, Yu H B, Li D S, Huang Q, Zhou J M 2003 J. Cryst. Growth 255 63
[30]	Arslan E, Ozturk M K, Duygulu Ö, Kaya A A, Ozcelik S, Ozbay E 2009 Appl. Phys. A 94 73
[31]	Saron K M A, Hashim M R, Allam N K 2013 J. Appl. Phys. 113 124304
[32]	Zhang L L, Liu Z H, Xiu X Q, Zhang R, Xie Z L 2013 Acta Phys. Sin. 62 208101 (in Chinese) [张李骊, 刘战辉, 修向前, 张荣, 谢自力 2013 物理学报 62 208101]
[33]	Cao R T, Xu S R, Zhang J C, Zhao Y, Xue J S, Ha W, Zhang S, Cui P S, Wen H J, Chen X 2014 Chin. Phys. B 23 047804
[34]	Zheng Z Y, Chen Z M, Wu H L, Chen Y D, Huang S J, Fan B F, Xian Y L, Wu Z S, Wang G, Jiang H 2014 J. Cryst. Growth 387 52
[35]	Fang Z L, Kang J Y, Shen W Z 2008 J. Phys. Chem. C 112 17652
[36]	Xu S R, Hao Y, Zhang J C, Jiang T, Yang L N, Lu X L, Lin Z Y 2013 Nano Lett. 13 3654
[37]	Lu T P, Ma Z G, Du C H, Fang Y T, Wu H Y, Jiang Y, Wang L, Dai L G, Jia H Q, Liu W M, Chen H 2014 Sci. Rep. 4 6131
[38]	Benamara M, Liliental-Weber Z, Kellermann S, Swider W, Washburn J, Mazur J, Bourret-Courchesne E D 2000 J. Cryst. Growth 218 447
[39]	Masataka I, Naoki F, Narihito O, Krishnan B, Motoaki I, Satoshi K, Hiroshi A, Isamu A, Tadashi N, Takashi T, Akira B 2007 J. Cryst. Growth 300 136
[40]	Zhao L B, Yu T J, Wu J J, Dai T, Yang Z J, Zhang G Y 2010 Appl. Surf. Sci. 256 2236

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Vol. 64, Issue 12 - 2015-06-20

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