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Abstract: The influence of AlN buffer growth temperature on the quality and stress of 4.5μm GaN epilayer on 6H–SiC substrate by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) has been investigated. The crystalline quality and the atomic surface morphology were improved, the density of the pits and the stress of the GaN epilayer were reduced by increasing the growth temperature of the AlN buffer in the range from 950°C to 1100°C. By employing the optimized 1100°C growth temperature of AlN buffer, very high quality of GaN epilayer was achieved. The X-ray full width of half maximums (FWHMs) of (002) and (102) reflection rocking curves of the GaN epilayer have been improved to 159arcsec and 194arcsec, respectively, and the surface RMS to only 0.31nm in the 5μm×5μm atomic force microscopy (AFM) scan. The stress of GaN epilayer was investigated by X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering as well. The degree of the tensile stress in GaN epilayer could be suppressed by increasing the growth temperature of AlN buffer. Finally, a high quality of crack-free 4.5μm thick GaN epilayer was obtained on 6H–SiC substrate using the optimized 1100°C AlN growth temperature. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The influence of GaCl carrier gas flow rate on GaN films grown by hydride vapor-phase epitaxy (HVPE) was investigated. The symmetric (0002) and asymmetric (10–12) ω scans were detected to estimate the quality of GaN films. Optical properties were studied by room temperature photoluminescence spectra. Raman spectroscopy was employed to analyze the residual stress in the samples. The surface morphology of the GaN films was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). On the basis of process optimization the optimal GaCl carrier gas flow rate for growth of high quality GaN films in our system was obtained as 1.3L/min. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) grown GaN samples were etched by H3PO4, mixed solution of H2SO4 and H3PO4 (HH) and molten eutectic of KOH–NaOH (E), respectively. The etching characteristics and surface morphologies were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The density of etch pits obtained by E etching under optimum etching condition was around 3.0×108 cm−2, which was consistent with the results obtained by the cathodoluminescence (CL) investigation. Two types of etch pits with different sizes were all revealed on the GaN surface using different etching methods. The large etch pits were formed on screw or mixed dislocations, while small etch pits were formed on edge dislocations. The difference in the size of etch pits was interpreted by Cabrera''s thermodynamic theory. Prolonging etching time, the morphology changes of etch pits were different by using H3PO4, HH and E. The etching rate by H3PO4 etching was the fastest and that by E etching was the slowest. According to these etching results, it could be concluded that E etching was a better method for evaluation of dislocations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]