Distribution of dislocations in AlN crystals grown on evaporating SiC substrates

Abstract

By the use of high-resolution X-ray diffractometry and synchrotron radiation topography, the distribution of dislocations in AlN crystals grown on evaporating SiC substrates is studied. The growth of AlN layer in one process with the evaporation of SiC substrate gave the possibility to prevent the relaxation of thermal stresses through cracking of AlN during cooling the structure. The continuous 0.2-1.5 mm thick plates were used as the model objects for the study of dislocation structure near the AlN/SiC interface. Analysis of the broadening of the Bragg reflection peaks, the shape of scattering maps in reciprocal space and topographs showed that dislocations formed the mosaic structure, different from the distribution of threading dislocations in GaN epilayers. A theoretical model for misfit strain relaxation in the growing AlN layer is suggested. The results enable to clarify the dislocation processes during sublimation growth of industrial quality AlN crystals.