Conventional Sapphire Substrate Research Articles

Growth of thick GaN films on 2-inch ScAlMgO4 substrates by halide vapor phase epitaxy

Thick GaN bulks up to 5.2 mm were grown on 2-inch ScAlMgO4 (SAM) substrates by halide vapor phase epitaxy. Free-standing GaN substrates were fabricated by spontaneous separation during the cooling process. The crystalline quality and orientation of GaN for each film thickness were evaluated by X-ray Rocking Curve (XRC) measurements on the (0002) and (10–12) planes. The FWHM of the XRC (0002) and (10–12) diffraction peaks for the 2.9-mm-thick GaN free-standing bulk were 39 and 51 arcsec, respectively, and the dark spot density measured by cathodoluminescence mapping was 1.5 × 106 cm−2. In addition, the radius of curvature of its free-standing GaN bulk was 5.0 m. The impurity concentrations originating from the SAM almost reached detection limits of the SIMS measurements at a GaN film thickness of around 10 µm and more. The crystalline quality of GaN grown on the SAM substrates was comparable to that of GaN grown on sapphire substrates, indicating that the SAM substrate can replace conventional sapphire substrate because of the ease of fabrication of free-standing GaN bulk.

Suppressing optical crosstalk for GaN/InGaN based flip-chip micro light-emitting diodes by using an air-cavity patterned sapphire substrate as a light filter.

In this work, by using three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (3D FDTD) method, the effect of conventional nano-patterned sapphire substrate (NPSS) on the optical crosstalk and the light extraction efficiency (LEE) for InGaN/GaN-based flip-chip micro light-emitting diodes (µ-LEDs) are systematically studied. We find that the conventional NPSS is not suitable for µ-LEDs. It is because the inclined mesa sidewall for µ-LEDs possesses a good scattering effect for µ-LEDs, but the introduced conventional NPSS causes part of the light be off escape cone between sapphire and air and become the guided light. To suppress the guided light and improve the optical crosstalk, a thick air layer between the n-GaN layer and the sapphire substrate can be used as a light filter to prevent the guided light from propagating into the sapphire. However, in reality, it is challenging to make the aforementioned air layer from point of fabrication view. Therefore, we propose the air-cavity patterned sapphire substrate (AC-PSS) as the light filter. Our results show that the crosstalk ratio can be decreased to the value even lower than 10%. The LEE can also be enhanced simultaneously due to combination effects of the filtering effect of the AC-PSS and the scattering effect of the inclined mesa sidewall.

Mechanism of low Ohmic contact resistance to p-type GaN by suppressed edge dislocations

In this paper, an excellent Ohmic contact to p-GaN with a low specific contact resistance (ρc) of 2.0 × 10−5 Ω·cm2 is demonstrated using a patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) and oxidized Ni/Au contacts. GaN epitaxy with high crystal quality on the PSS, confirmed by high-resolution x-ray diffraction, played a key role in the improved Ohmic contact to p-GaN. The edge dislocations were annihilated during the epitaxial process on the PSS to afford a low surface dislocation density, which was in accordance with the results of transmission electron microscopy and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. Furthermore, a reduced Fermi level and enhanced activation efficiency of Mg with suppressed segregation around the dislocations were demonstrated by Kelvin probe force microscopy and contact Hall measurements, respectively. A GaN p-channel metal oxide semiconductor device fabricated on the PSS displayed a twofold higher forward current density and superior gate controllability compared with that fabricated on a conventional sapphire substrate.

High quality GaN tetrapodal structures hetero-integrated on 3D Si surfaces

Gallium nitride (GaN) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on silicon (Si) substrates have been highlighted due to the potentials to achieve significant cost reduction, effective thermal management, and highly directional light emission, by replacing the conventional sapphire substrates with the opportunities to adopt the well-established Si-based semiconducting technologies. However, large mismatch of physical properties between Si and GaN considerably lowers the material quality of GaN and the corresponding device performances. Herein, we employ three-dimensional faceted Si surfaces (3D faceted Si) to effectively release the generated strain energy during the hetero-epitaxial growth of GaN on Si for fabricating high performance GaN-on-Si LEDs. The resulting outcome not only includes the unique morphology of 3D tetrapodal GaN layers on 3D faceted Si to form space-filling arrays for efficient device utilization, but also contains the excellent material quality of the hetero-integrated GaN layers, comparable to that grown on planar sapphire substrates. Consequently, those 3D tetrapodal GaN-on-Si LEDs exhibit the excellent light extraction characteristics due to their shapes to effectively suppress total internal reflection of generated light. In addition, the anisotropic formation of active layers in the 3D tetrapodal GaN-on-Si LEDs performs multi-color emission characteristics with tunable color capabilities.

Reduction of dislocations in α-Ga2O3 epilayers grown by halide vapor-phase epitaxy on a conical frustum-patterned sapphire substrate.

The compound α-Ga2O3 is an ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductor and possesses outstanding properties such as a high breakdown voltage and symmetry compared with other phases. It has been studied for applications in high-performance power devices. However, it is difficult to obtain a high-quality thin films because α-Ga2O3 can only grow heteroepitaxially, which results in residual stress generation owing to lattice mismatch and thermal expansion between the substrate and α-Ga2O3. To overcome this, α-Ga2O3 was grown on a conical frustum-patterned sapphire substrate by halide vapor-phase epitaxy. The surface morphology was crack-free and flat. The α-Ga2O3 grown on a frustum-patterned substrate and a conventional sapphire substrate at 500°C exhibited full-width at half-maxima of 961 and 1539 arcsec, respectively, for 10-12 diffraction. For the former substrate, lateral growth on the pattern and threading dislocation bending towards the pattern suppressed the propagation of threading dislocations generated at the interface, which reduced the threading dislocation propagation to the surface by half compared with that on the latter conventional substrate. The results suggest that conical frustum-patterned sapphire substrates have the potential to produce high-quality α-Ga2O3 epilayers.

Temperature Dependence of Stress and Optical Properties in AlN Films Grown by MOCVD.

AlN epilayers were grown on a 2-inch [0001] conventional flat sapphire substrate (CSS) and a nano-patterned sapphire substrate (NPSS) by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. In this work, the effect of the substrate template and temperature on stress and optical properties of AlN films has been studied by using Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible spectrophotometer and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The AlN on NPSS exhibits lower compressive stress and strain values. The biaxial stress decreases from 1.59 to 0.60 GPa for AlN on CSS and from 0.90 to 0.38 GPa for AlN on NPSS sample in the temperature range 80–300 K, which shows compressive stress. According to the TEM data, the stress varies from tensile on the interface to compressive on the surface. It can be deduced that the nano-holes provide more channels for stress relaxation. Nano-patterning leads to a lower degree of disorder and stress/strain relaxes by the formation of the nano-hole structure between the interface of AlN epilayers and the substrate. The low crystal disorder and defects in the AlN on NPSS is confirmed by the small Urbach energy values. The variation in bandgap (Eg) and optical constants (n, k) with temperature are discussed in detail. Nano-patterning leads to poor light transmission due to light scattering, coupling, and trapping in nano-holes.

Crystallization of PECVD grown Si nanowire and its characterization using confocal Raman and EELS studies

In the present report, systematic studies on nanoclustered Au catalyzed vapour-liquid–solid growth of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) technique are described. The growth of SiNWs is performed on not so conventional sapphire substrate as well as commonly used Si substrate. SiNWs grown on different substrates are characterized for their morphologies and structures. Field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis of grown SiNWs, having an average diameter of ~ 800 nm and a typical length of ~ 10 µm, shows a slight increase in density of nanowires grown on Si substrate when compared to that for the samples grown on sapphire without any morphological changes. Structural studies using high resolution transmission electron microscopy confirm the crystalline nature of SiNWs where the crystalline core with polycrystalline shell is encapsulated in the amorphous phase. Confocal Raman analysis, unambiguously, confirms the presence of amorphous silicon oxide and amorphous Si (a-Si) in the SiNWs. Electron energy loss spectroscopy for the Si L2,3 shows the presence of a-Si and SiO2 at the surface of nanowire affirming the encapsulation of SiNWs in amorphous phase. Annealing of the samples conducted at 900 °C for 15 min restores the crystalline nature within the SiNWs which is confirmed further from Raman analysis.

Defect Structure and Evolution of GaN-Based Light-Emitting Diodes on Planar and Cone-Patterned Sapphire Substrates

Epitaxial layers of GaN and InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well light emitting diodes (LEDs) were prepared both on cone-shaped patterned sapphire substrates and conventional sapphire substrates. The mechanism of nucleation of GaN epilayers was studied using metallographic and atomic force microscope images of the surface of GaN epilayers, and the internal factors of cone-shaped patterned sapphire substrates that accelerate GaN transverse growth and improve the quality of epitaxial layers were analyzed. The microstructural properties of GaN epitaxial layers grown on a patterned sapphire substrate were studied in detail using transmission electron microscopy to determine the distribution and growth. The surface morphology of p-GaN was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and some other information about the defects was obtained. The full width at half maximum of electroluminescence spectra of LED grown on the patterned sapphire substrate is small, and its monochromaticity is good.

Effect of Interface State Density of the AlGaN Electron Blocking Layer/GaN Barrier Layer in InGaN Blue Light-Emitting Diodes

Herein, two kinds of blue InGaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were compared in order to understand the effect of the strain originating from two different sapphire substrates. One of the LED types was grown on a patterned sapphire substrate (PSS), and the other was grown on a conventional sapphire substrate (CSS). The internal strains biased on InGaN quantum wells were compared by studying the time-resolved photoluminescence and the electroreflectance. Through analysis of the dynamic capacitance dispersion measurements, the relation between the trap states and trap density of the AlGaN electron blocking layer/GaN barrier interface above the InGaN quantum wells can be understood in great detail. The trapped charges of the CSSs have faster response times than those of the PSSs; this is attributed to the stronger piezo-field, which induces the AlGaN EBL/GaN barrier interface trap states to be effectively located at shallower levels from the conduction band.

Boosted ultraviolet electroluminescence of InGaN/AlGaN quantum structures grown on high-index contrast patterned sapphire with silica array

Epitaxially grown high crystalline quality InGaN/AlGaN multiple quantum structures on patterned sapphire with silica array (PSSA) have been successfully demonstrated. In comparison to conventional epilayers grown on patterned sapphire substrate (PSS), we observed a reduced threading dislocation density in the films grown on PSSA, attributing to the preferable vertical growth mode and reduced misfit at the coalescence boundary. Furthermore, a significant enhancement in light extraction efficiency can be achieved from InGaN/AlGaN-based ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UVLEDs) built on PSSA owing to the large refractive index contrast between the epilayers and PSSA. More photons can escape from the top and bottom of the device, which was confirmed by numerically modeling light propagation within such device architecture. Benefiting from the reduced threading dislocation density and enhanced light extraction efficiency, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the fabricated UVLEDs on PSSA was more than two times higher than that of devices on the conventional flat sapphire substrate and it was additionally enhanced by 26.1% in comparison to the devices fabricated on PSS under an injection current of 150 mA. Therefore, the successful demonstration of UVLED on PSSA provides an unprecedented opportunity in achieving higher electroluminescence performance in future solid-state UV light sources.

Comparative study of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on different sapphire substrates

Abstract AlGaN/GaN heterostructures were grown on the conventional planar sapphire substrate (CSS), nano-scale patterned sapphire substrate (NPSS) and micro-scale patterned sapphire substrates (MPSS) by metal organic chemical vapor deposition respectively. The heterostructure grown on the MPSS has significantly lower threading dislocation density (TDD) than those grown on the NPSS and CSS. The bending and quenching of threading dislocations induced by lateral growth are the main factors for the reduction of TDD. Correspondingly, the carrier mobility of heterostructure grown on the MPSS is also the highest.

Highly polarized photoluminescence from c-plane InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells on stripe-shaped cavity-engineered sapphire substrate

Highly polarized photoluminescence (PL) from c-plane InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown on stripe-shaped cavity-engineered sapphire substrate (SCES) was realized. The polarization ratio was as high as 0.74 at room temperature. High-resolution X-ray reciprocal space mapping measurements revealed that the InGaN quantum wells on GaN/SCES template were under considerable anisotropic in-plane strain states of −1.178% and −1.921% along the directions perpendicular and parallel to the stripe-pattern, respectively. The anisotropic strain states were attributed to the anisotropic alignment of cavity-incorporated sapphire nano-membranes, which accommodated both anisotropic elastic relaxation in the InGaN quantum well plane as well as the graded elastic relaxation along the vertical direction in the GaN template adjacent to the InGaN/GaN MQWs. The partial strain relaxation in the InGaN wells also contributed to reduction of quantum confined Stark effect, resulting in four times higher PL intensity than InGaN/GaN MQWs on planar sapphire substrate. From theoretical calculations based on k∙p perturbation theory, it was found that fundamental origin of the polarized optical emission was strain-induced modification of valence band structures of the InGaN/GaN MQWs on the SCES. This study will allow us to realize light emitting diodes with highly polarized emission with conventional c-plane sapphire substrates by strain-induced valence band modification.

Improved bandwidth of a 2 THz hot-electron bolometer heterodyne mixer fabricated on sapphire with a GaN buffer layer

We report on the signal-to-noise and gain bandwidth of a niobium nitride (NbN) hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer at 2 THz fabricated on a sapphire substrate with a GaN buffer layer. Two mixers with different DC properties and geometrical dimensions were studied and they demonstrated very close bandwidth performance. The signal-to-noise bandwidth is increased to 8 GHz in comparison to the previous results, obtained without a buffer-layer. The data were taken in a quasi-optical system with the use of the signal-to-noise method, which is close to the signal levels used in actual astrophysical observations. We find an increase of the gain bandwidth to 5 GHz. The results indicate that prior results obtained on a substrate of crystalline GaN can also be obtained on a conventional sapphire substrate with a few micron MOCVD-deposited GaN buffer-layer.

Impact of Cone‐Shape‐Patterned Sapphire Substrate and Temperature on the Epitaxial Growth of p‐GaN via MOCVD

In this paper, the authors report both the effects of the cone‐shape‐patterned sapphire substrate (CSPSS) and the growth temperature on surface morphology and crystalline quality of the p‐GaN layers, grown via metal‐organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Low‐temperature GaN buffer and high‐temperature undoped GaN (u‐GaN) coalescence layers are grown between p‐GaN epitaxial film and substrate for all the samples. The time evolution of surface morphology of those films is monitored by scanning electron microscope (SEM) in order to investigate the growth mechanism of films on CSPSS. The compressive stresses in the p‐GaN films is also discussed. From atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) results, it is observed that, using CSPSS at a lower temperature (1030 °C) significantly reduces the surface roughness and enhances the crystallinity of p‐GaN film compared to growth at 1060 °C on conventional sapphire substrate. Furthermore, the low resistivity level of 0.05 Ω cm and high hole carrier concentration of 1.57 × 1019 cm−3 in the p‐GaN have been achieved by using CSPSS at lower temperature.

Improvement of light extraction for AlGaN-based near UV LEDs with flip-chip bonding fabricated on grooved sapphire substrate using laser ablation

Mesh-textured flip-chip (FC) structures of AlGaN-based near ultraviolet-light-emitting diodes (NUV- LEDs) are fabricated using an Nd:YAG laser scriber. Compared with the output power of the reference FC-LEDs, those of conventional sapphire substrate (CSS) FC-LEDs and the patterned sapphire substrate FC-LEDs with laser-scribed mesh-textured backsides were improved by 28.7% and 7.2%, respectively. The CSS FC-LED is enhanced using the mesh-textured trench pattern attributable to an increase in the light-extraction efficiency resulting from an increase in the photon-escape probability due to enhanced light scattering at the trench-patterned-sapphire/air interface. Furthermore, the current–voltage curves depict that the laser scribing process does not adversely affect the electrical properties of the FC-LEDs. A Trace-Pro simulation revealed that the laser-scribed-trench CSS FC-LED is effective for light extraction.

Direct van der Waals Epitaxy of Crack-Free AlN Thin Film on Epitaxial WS₂.

Van der Waals epitaxy (vdWE) has drawn continuous attention, as it is unlimited by lattice-mismatch between epitaxial layers and substrates. Previous reports on the vdWE of III-nitride thin film were mainly based on two-dimensional (2D) materials by plasma pretreatment or pre-doping of other hexagonal materials. However, it is still a huge challenge for single-crystalline thin film on 2D materials without any other extra treatment or interlayer. Here, we grew high-quality single-crystalline AlN thin film on sapphire substrate with an intrinsic WS2 overlayer (WS2/sapphire) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, which had surface roughness and defect density similar to that grown on conventional sapphire substrates. Moreover, an AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet light emitting diode structure on WS2/sapphire was demonstrated. The electroluminescence (EL) performance exhibited strong emissions with a single peak at 283 nm. The wavelength of the single peak only showed a faint peak-position shift with increasing current to 80 mA, which further indicated the high quality and low stress of the AlN thin film. This work provides a promising solution for further deep-ultraviolet (DUV) light emitting electrodes (LEDs) development on 2D materials, as well as other unconventional substrates.

Dislocation Evolution and Microstructural Properties on GaN Grown on Cone Patterned Sapphire Substrate

GaN epifilms are grown on the cone patterned sapphire substrates (CPSS) and the conventional sapphire substrates (CSS) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using a two-step growth. We investigated dislocation structures and density in the GaN epifilms grown on CPSS and CSS using high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). HRXRD measurement shows that GaN epifilms grown on CPSS have lower dislocation density than the CSS, especially the edge dislocation density. This consequence is confirmed by metallographs of etched GaN. From the TEM results, we found that most of the threading dislocations (TDs) in the trench region of the CPSS were bent by lateral growth mode. The bending of dislocations and presence of voids dramatically prevent the generation of threading dislocations on the surface due to the induced lateral overgrowth mode. The high Raman peak intensity of the GaN epifilms grown on CPSS with a low full width at half maximum (FWHM) indicates that there is an improvement in the quality of the GaN compared to GaN epifilms grown on CSS.

Effect of annealing time and NH3 flow on GaN films deposited on amorphous SiO2 by MOCVD

GaN polycrystalline films were successfully grown on amorphous SiO2 by metal–organic chemical vapour deposition to fabricate transferable devices using inorganic films. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy images show that by prolonging the annealing time, re-evaporation is enhanced, which reduced the uniformity of the nucleation layer and GaN films. X-ray diffraction patterns indicate that the decomposition rate of the nucleation layer increases when the annealing flow rate of NH3 is 500 sccm, which makes the unstable plane and amorphous domains decompose rapidly, thereby improving the crystallinity of the GaN films. Photoluminescence spectra also indicate the presence of fewer defects when the annealing flow rate of NH3 is 500 sccm. The excellent crystal structure of the GaN films grown under optimized conditions was revealed by transmission electron microscopy analysis. More importantly, the crystal structure and orientation of GaN grown on SiO2 are the same as that of GaN grown on conventional sapphire substrate when a buffer layer is used. This work can aid in the development of transferable devices using GaN films.

Heterogeneous Integration of Microscale GaN Light‐Emitting Diodes and Their Electrical, Optical, and Thermal Characteristics on Flexible Substrates

AbstractMaterials and device strategies to form inorganic, thin‐film, microscale light‐emitting diodes (micro‐LEDs) are presented based on a simplified release method. High performance gallium nitride based blue micro‐LEDs are fabricated on and released from both patterned sapphire substrates (PSSs) and conventional nonpatterned sapphire substrates (CSSs). Micro‐LEDs are transferred onto copper and polyimide based flexible substrates and their electrical and optical performances are maintained. Thermal properties of PSS and CSS based micro‐LEDs are systematically explored on different substrates. Finally, micro‐LEDs combined with phosphor coatings demonstrate capability for polychromatic emission. The techniques presented here provide promising paths to advanced light sources with potential applications in lighting, displays, and biomedicine.

Te Monolayer-Driven Spontaneous van der Waals Epitaxy of Two-dimensional Pnictogen Chalcogenide Film on Sapphire.

Demands on high-quality layer structured two-dimensional (2D) thin films such as pnictogen chalcogenides and transition metal dichalcogenides are growing due to the findings of exotic physical properties and potentials for device applications. However, the difficulties in controlling epitaxial growth and the unclear understanding of van der Waals epitaxy (vdWE) for a 2D chalcogenide film on a three-dimensional (3D) substrate have been major obstacles for the further advances of 2D materials. Here, we exploit the spontaneous vdWE of a high-quality 2D chalcogenide (Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3) film by the chalcogen-driven surface reconstruction of a conventional 3D sapphire substrate. It is verified that the in situ formation of a pseudomorphic Te atomic monolayer on the surface of sapphire, which results in a dangling bond-free surface, allows the spontaneous vdWE of 2D chalcogenide film. Since this route uses the natural surface reconstruction of sapphire with chalcogen under vacuum condition, it can be scalable and easily utilized for the developments of various 2D chalcogenide vdWE films through conventional thin-film fabrication technologies.