Growth of GaN epilayers on Si(111) substrates using multiple buffer layers

Abstract

We present a study of the growth of high quality GaN films on Si(111) substrates by MetalOrganic Chemical Vapor Deposition technique. In order to improve the quality of the epitaxial films we introduced different nucleation or buffer layers and combinations of them. Our results obtained on an optimized AlN nucleation layer will serve as reference point. In order to improve the quality of the epitaxial films we introduced different combinations of nucleation and intermediate layers. The first combination consists of an optimized AlN nucleation layer followed by a 1 m-thick GaN film, on which we deposited SixNy/GaN intermediate layers. Based on the optimized AlN nucleation layer, we introduced AlGaN/GaN superlattices or AlN intermediate buffer layers. Additionally, we present results on the modification the Si(111) surface with NH₃ to promote nucleation from selective GaN islands. In all experiments the total thickness of the GaN epilayers was 3 m m. X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, Hall measurements and atomic force microscopy were used in order to elucidate the effectiveness of these growth processes. For the most successful deposition scheme, the one with the SixNy/GaN intermediate layers, the resulting GaN layers are of high quality as compared to the other methods. The donor bound exciton, which dominates the photoluminescence spectrum, showed a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of about 50 meV at room temperature and 10 meV at 4K. The FWHM of the symmetric (0002) rocking curves in w-scan is about 640 arcsec. The root-mean-square roughness, as measured by atomic force microscopy, does not exceed 10 Å.