Graphene-assisted growth of high-quality AlN by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

High-quality AlN films were directly grown on graphene/sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The graphene layers were directly grown on sapphire by atmospheric-pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD), a low-cost catalyst-free method. We analyzed the influence of the graphene layer on the nucleation of AlN at the initial stage of growth and found that sparse AlN grains on graphene grew and formed a continuous film via lateral coalescence. Graphene-assisted AlN films are smooth and continuous, and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) values for (0002) and reflections are 360 and 622.2 arcsec, which are lower than that of the film directly grown on sapphire. The high-resolution TEM images near the AlN/sapphire interface for graphene-assisted AlN films clearly show the presence of graphene, which kept its original morphology after the 1200 °C growth of AlN.