Homogeneous AlGaN/GaN superlattices grown on free-standing (11¯00) GaN substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Two-dimensional and homogeneous growth of m-plane AlGaN by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy has been realized on free-standing (11¯00) GaN substrates by implementing high metal-to-nitrogen (III/N) flux ratio. AlN island nucleation, often reported for m-plane AlGaN under nitrogen-rich growth co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2013-12, Vol.103 (23)
Main Authors: Shao, Jiayi, Zakharov, Dmitri N., Edmunds, Colin, Malis, Oana, Manfra, Michael J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adatoms
ALUMINIUM NITRIDES
Aluminum gallium nitrides
Applied physics
APPROXIMATIONS
Basal plane
DENSITY
Dislocation density
DISLOCATIONS
Electrons
Epitaxial growth
GALLIUM NITRIDES
MATERIALS SCIENCE
METALS
MICROSTRUCTURE
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
NITROGEN
NUCLEATION
PLASMA
RESOLUTION
Scanning electron microscopy
Scanning transmission electron microscopy
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
STACKING FAULTS
SUBSTRATES
SUPERLATTICES
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
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Summary:Two-dimensional and homogeneous growth of m-plane AlGaN by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy has been realized on free-standing (11¯00) GaN substrates by implementing high metal-to-nitrogen (III/N) flux ratio. AlN island nucleation, often reported for m-plane AlGaN under nitrogen-rich growth conditions, is suppressed at high III/N flux ratio, highlighting the important role of growth kinetics for adatom incorporation. The homogeneity and microstructure of m-plane AlGaN/GaN superlattices are assessed via a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The predominant defects identified in dark field TEM characterization are short basal plane stacking faults (SFs) bounded by either Frank-Shockley or Frank partial dislocations. In particular, the linear density of SFs is approximately 5 × 10−5 cm−1, and the length of SFs is less than 15 nm.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4836975