Low Temperature GaN Growth on Nitridated Sapphire Using Remote Plasma Enhanced Ultrahigh Vacuum Chemical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

GaN epitaxial thin films were grown on a nitridated sapphire at low temperature (550 °C) using remote plasma enhanced ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition system and these films were investigated by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), X-ray diffraction(XRD) θ-rocking technique and the Ultraviolet-Visible-Nearinfrared (UV-VIS-NIR) absorption spectrum. The FWHM of the X-ray θ-rocking curve was about 0.4 degree using the (0002) reflection from the GaN layer with 5000 angstroms thickness grown on the nitridated sapphire. An analysis of XRD and the UV-VIS-NIR absorption spectrum showed that the crystalline and optical qualities of GaN are dependent on the nitridation time of the sapphire even at low temperature when a plasma source is used for nitridation. This means that the density of protrusion, which is formed by a relaxation of the elastic energy caused by the lattice difference between the sapphire and AlxO1-xN, with the sapphire nitridation time plays a key role in the crystalline and optical properties of grown GaN films. The RBS channeling data and the FWHM value of the θ-rocking curve for GaN(0002) also indicated that the truncated hexagonals are tilted towards each other. These results showed that the GaN epitaxial film can be successfully grown on nitridated sapphire by RPE-UHVCVD even at low temperature.