Epitaxial growth of AlN and Al 0.5Ga 0.5N layers on aluminum nitride substrates

Abstract

High-quality epitaxial AlN and Al x Ga 1− x N layers have been grown by organo-metallic vapor-phase epitaxy (OMVPE) on single-crystal AlN substrates. Here we report the characterization of these layers on a-face substrates using Rutherford backscattering/ion channeling spectroscopy (RBS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), double-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD), and preliminary electrical results. Ion channeling along the [ 1 1 2 ̄ 0 ] axis gave a minimum yield of 1.5% for an AlN layer and 2.2% for an Al 0.5Ga 0.5N, indicating excellent crystal quality. A resistivity of 20 Ω cm and a mobility of 20 cm 2/V s was measured in a Si-doped, 1 μm-thick, epitaxial Al 0.5Ga 0.5N grown epitaxially on the AlN substrates.