Homoepitaxial growth of AlN on nitrided sapphire by LPE method using Ga–Al binary solution

Abstract

AbstractA novel liquid phase epitaxy method was proposed for growing an AlN layer using Ga–Al binary flux under normal pressure. In this method, nitrogen gas was injected into the flux. Then a nitrided sapphire substrate was used as a template to achieve homoepitaxial growth. Advantages of using a nitrided sapphire substrate were demonstrated; the optimum flux composition was investigated. We grew 1‐µm‐thick c‐axis oriented AlN layer for 5 h at 1573 K. The full width at half maximum values of X‐ray rocking curves for AlN (0002) and (10−12) were, respectively, 50 and 590 arcsec. Moreover, the surface morphology and interfacial structure were observed using a scanning electron microscope, laser microscope, and high‐resolution transmission electron microscope.