Plasma-assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy Research Articles

Elimination of remnant phases in low-temperature growth of wurtzite ScAlN by molecular-beam epitaxy

Growth of wurtzite ScxAl1−xN (x < 0.23) by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy on c-plane GaN at high temperatures significantly alters the extracted lattice constants of the material due to defects likely associated with remnant phases. In contrast, ScAlN grown below a composition-dependent threshold temperature exhibits uniform alloy distribution, reduced defect density, and atomic-step surface morphology. The c-plane lattice constant of this low-temperature ScAlN varies with composition as expected from previous theoretical calculations and can be used to reliably estimate alloy composition. Moreover, lattice-matched Sc0.18Al0.82N/GaN multi-quantum wells grown under these conditions display strong and narrow near-infrared intersubband absorption lines that confirm advantageous optical and electronic properties.

(Invited) Vertical GaN Diodes: Effect of Growth Parameters, Indium Surfactants, and Device Development for High-Power Electronics

GaN has achieved widespread interest in high-power and high-speed electronics due to its wide-bandgap (WBG), large breakdown field, and high mobility compared to Si and SiC. There is also continued interest in the growth and development of GaN vertical devices owing to their advantageous properties of high current capability from backside ohmic, better field management, scaling feasibility, and enhanced thermal transport, which is not feasible with the lateral device topology. To realize the predicted high breakdown voltage and low on-resistance from vertical devices, high-quality drift layers with low unintentional doping and low compensating defects are fundamentally required. Hence, our research aims to pursue a comprehensive investigation of growth and device development with vertical GaN structures, building from the optimization of thick GaN homoepitaxy with high growth rate but low impurities, improving surface morphology using Indium as a surfactant as well as realizing punch-through field-plate p-n diodes to maximize the average electric field in high-voltage operation.Toward the goal of high-quality GaN epitaxy growth, we performed systematic studies of growth rate effects on the drift layer doping using ammonia molecular beam epitaxy (NH3 MBE) and plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA MBE) [1]. The NH3 MBE homoepitaxy GaN demonstrated an unintentional doping (UID) of ~1015 cm-3, significantly lower than that of the conventional metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reports, which can be potentially contributed by clean growth environment of MBE.We further focused on improving surface morphology using Indium as a surfactant. Through a combination of varying V/III ratios, In flux and growth temperatures, an optimal condition for surface morphology, characterized by atomic force microscopy, was achieved for fast growth rates (on the order of 1 µm/hr and beam equivalent pressures on the order of 5 × 10-7 Torr). However, excessive indium causes the surface morphology to degrade, potentially due to the enhancement of the Ga desorption from the surface as a result of the reaction of indium with ammonia for high indium fluxes. The indium surfactant can also reduce silicon impurities as revealed from the Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) (Fig. 2).Subsequently, we developed vertical p-n GaN power devices using the NH3 MBE-grown high-quality epitaxy [2]. The vertical p-n GaN diode consisted (from bottom up): ~0.25 µm of n+ GaN ([Si]: 1×1019 cm-3) buffer, ~4 µm UID GaN drift layer for n-type region, ~0.4 µm p+GaN ([Mg]: 3×1019 cm-3) for p-type region, and ~10 nm p++ GaN cap ([Mg]: 3×1020 cm-3) to support the anode ohmic contact. Circular p-n diodes of 80-100 µm diameter were fabricated with Pd/Pt anode and a backside Ti/ Au ohmic contact. The field management was achieved by field-plate of 15 µm formed with Ti/Au metals on top of a field-plate dielectric of a Al2O3 (26 nm)/ Si3N4 (205 nm) stack (Fig. 3).The p-n GaN diodes exhibited an outstanding forward J-V behavior with a low specific on-resistance (Ron,sp) of 0.28 mΩ-cm2 and a minimum ideality factor of 1.36 (Fig. 4), which are among the best achieved in vertical homoepitaxy GaN p-n diodes [2-4]. The best diodes also exhibited a breakdown voltage of > 1 kV (equipment limit 1 kV). These reverse-voltage properties imply a punch-through characteristics with peak electric field (EC) >2.6 MV/cm, as revealed by Silvaco simulation (Fig. 5). The combination of >1 kV breakdown voltage and on-resistance of 0.28 mΩ-cm2 represents one of the best performances of the p-n GaN diodes, achieved with a significantly downscaled (~4 um) drift layer compared to the MOCVD GaN p-n diodes of ≥ 8 um (Fig. 6). Work is ongoing to develop NHE MBE p-n diodes with indium surfactant-assisted drift layer growth which will be promising to further improve the surface morphology, reduce leakage, and enhance breakdown performance of the vertical devices.

(Invited) InGaN/AlGaN Red-Emitting Nanowire LEDs for Monolithic Micro-LED Displays

High efficiency, high color rendition and low-cost light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with low power consumption, long lifetime and high reliability are highly expected for general lighting illumination, smartphones, smartwatches, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) headsets, and micro-display applications. Nonetheless, the achievement of deep green to red-emitting LEDs using conventional III-nitride quantum well heterostructures has been difficult, due to the presence of large densities of dislocations, strong polarization fields, poor hole transport, and carrier delocalization [1]. The external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the blue and green InGaN LEDs surpassed 80% and 53%, respectively. However, due to the aforementioned issues, the current InGaN red LEDs with high Indium composition exhibit extremely low EQE which is less than 3% [2]. In this regard, LEDs using nanowire structures offer dramatically reduced strain-induced polarization fields and dislocation densities, providing ideal material structure for high efficiency full-color and even white light emission without using phosphor-converters. In this study, we have successfully designed, and fabricated high efficiency red-emitting nanowire heterostructures and demonstrated micro-LEDs with stable and strong emission at ~645 nm. Moreover, the micro-LEDs have high internal quantum efficiency of >40%.The InGaN/AlGaN nanowire micro-LED structures are grown by RF plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) under nitrogen-rich condition. The LED structure consists of a 250 nm n-GaN nanowire template, 10 couples of 3 nm AlGaN quantum barrier (QB)/ 3 nm InGaN quantum well (QW) served as the active region, and a 200 nm p-GaN. During the epitaxial growth of AlGaN barriers, an AlGaN shell spontaneously forms, enabling a unique InGaN/AlGaN core-shell structure [3]. The emission color of the micro-LEDs can be defined by controlling the ratio of Ga/In flux and the substrate temperature during the MBE growth process. Detailed growth conditions and the device fabrication can be found elsewhere [3-5]. The nanowires are uniformly arranged on Si substrates, as illustrated in Figure 1(a). Figure 1(b) shows the schematic structure of the fabricated micro-LEDs. Strong red emissions were measured from the InGaN/AlGaN core-shell LEDs, as shown in Figure 1(c). At injection current of 400mA, the peak emission wavelength is at ~645nm. The red-emitting micro-LEDs exhibit stable emissions with a blue-shift of only ~ 4nm under injection current from 50 mA to 400 mA, attributed to the significantly reduced quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) in the nanowire structures. Moreover, full color micro-LEDs with device size from 10x10 µm2 to 100x100 µm2 have been fabricated using similar approach. Such high efficiency, high color rendering properties, and low power consumption micro-LEDs are promising candidates for emerging AR/VR devices and micro-LED display applications.

Structure induced quasi-diamagnetism, spin-glass behaviors and exchange bias in crystalline Mn3.5Au0.5N films

Homogeneous Au doped crystalline Mn4N films are grown on MgO (100) substrates by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Au0 and Mn0 occupy the corner sites in the Mn4N crystal lattice, while Mn1+ atoms are located at face-centered sites, respectively. Mn2p peaks with a shift to the low binding energy side and pronounced spin-glass behaviors as well as exchange bias effects (EB) are presented after the introduction of Au atoms. Mn3.5Au0.5N films exhibit spin-glass behaviors in the temperature range of 15 K to 266 K. Giant exchange bias effects with a 2.16 KOe of positive shift are observed at 100 K in 30 KOe of magnetic field. Spin-glass behaviors disappear at about 266 K and exchange bias effects decrease almost simultaneously to zero at this temperature. We propose that the giant EB in Mn3.5Au0.5N originates from the global interaction between two magnetic sublattices.

β -Ga2O3 MESFETs with insulating Mg-doped buffer grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

In this work, we develop in situ Mg doping techniques in plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) of β-Ga2O3 to compensate Si dopants at the substrate epilayer growth interface and eliminate parasitic leakage paths. Both abrupt and uniform Mg doping profiles over a wide range of concentrations were achieved in β-Ga2O3 epilayers grown by PAMBE. Capacitance–voltage characteristics of Si and Mg co-doped samples confirmed the compensating effect of the Mg dopants. Mg delta-doping was then integrated into a β-Ga2O3 metal-semiconductor field effect transistor structure and shown to be effective in eliminating source leakage. The results presented here show that Mg doping is a promising way to engineer insulating buffer layers for β-Ga2O3 lateral devices grown by PAMBE.

Role of defects in ultra-high gain in fast planar tin gallium oxide UV-C photodetector by MBE

We report ultra-high responsivity of epitaxial (SnxGa1−x)2O3 (TGO) Schottky UV-C photodetectors and experimentally identified the source of gain as deep-level defects, supported by first principles calculations. Epitaxial TGO films were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on (−201) oriented n-type β-Ga2O3 substrates. Fabricated vertical Schottky devices exhibited peak responsivities as high as 3.5 ×104 A/W at −5 V applied bias under 250 nm illumination with sharp cutoff shorter than 280 nm and fast rise/fall time in milliseconds order. Hyperspectral imaging cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra were examined to find the mid-bandgap defects, the source of this high gain. Irrespective of different tin mole fractions, the TGO epilayer exhibited extra CL peaks at the green band (∼2.20 eV) not seen in β-Ga2O3 along with enhancement of the blue emission-band (∼2.64 eV) and suppression of the UV emission-band. Based on hybrid functional calculations of the optical emission expected for defects involving Sn in β-Ga2O3, VGa–Sn complexes are proposed as potential defect origins of the observed green and blue emission-bands. Such complexes behave as acceptors that can efficiently trap photogenerated holes and are predicted to be predominantly responsible for the ultra-high photoconductive gain in the Sn-alloyed Ga2O3 devices by means of thermionic emission and electron tunneling. Regenerating the VGa–Sn defect complexes by optimizing the growth techniques, we have demonstrated a planar Schottky UV-C photodetector of the highest peak responsivity.

Epitaxy and bonding of peelable ZnO film on graphene/ZnO substrate

High-quality flexible ZnO films are commonly used to prepare ZnO-based flexible devices. However, the existing methods for preparing flexible films have some bottlenecks, such as poor quality, high cost, and complex steps in the flexible production process. The present study presents results on peelable ZnO film grown on graphene/ZnO substrate by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). Double-layer graphene (DLG) can be used as a release layer to convert the contact between ZnO film and substrate from chemical bonding to van der Waals force interactions. Hence, the ZnO film grown on graphene/ZnO substrate can be peeled off by a thermal release tape. The O-plasma irradiation introduced many dangling bonds on the surface of graphene. These dangling bonds combined with Zn atoms to form COZn bonds in the nucleation of the ZnO film. This study proposes a bonding mechanism of ZnO on graphene, verified by experiments. The flexible ZnO film obtained by this method provides a simple and feasible way for potential applications in ZnO-based flexible optoelectronic devices.

Molecular beam homoepitaxy of N-polar AlN on bulk AlN substrates

N-polar AlN epilayers were grown on the N-face of single-crystal bulk AlN substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. A combination of in situ thermal deoxidation and Al-assisted thermal desorption at high temperature aided in removing native surface oxides and impurities from the N-polar surface of the substrate enabling successful homoepitaxy. Subsequent epitaxial growth of the AlN layer on the in situ cleaned substrates, grown in a sufficiently high Al droplet regime, exhibited smooth surface morphologies with clean and wide atomic steps. KOH etch studies confirmed the N-polarity of the homoepitaxial films. Secondary ion mass spectrometry profiles show Si and H impurity concentrations below the noise levels, whereas O and C impurity concentrations of ∼8×1017 and ∼2×1017 atoms/cm3 are observed, respectively. Although the structural defect densities are low, they interestingly appear as inversion domains of different dimensionalities.

Controlled Si doping of β -Ga2O3 by molecular beam epitaxy

We report controlled silicon doping of Ga2O3 grown in plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Adding an endplate to the Si effusion cell enables the control of the mobile carrier density, leading to over 5-orders of magnitude change in the electrical resistivity. Room temperature mobilities >100 cm2/V s are achieved, with a peak value >125 cm2/V s at a doping density of low-1017/cm3. Temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements exhibit carrier freeze out for samples doped below the Mott criterion. A mobility of 390 cm2/V s is observed at 97 K.

Anisotropic dielectric function, direction dependent bandgap energy, band order, and indirect to direct gap crossover in α-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 (≤x≤1)

Mueller matrix spectroscopic ellipsometry is applied to determine anisotropic optical properties for a set of single-crystal rhombohedral structure α-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 thin films (0 ≤ x ≤ 1). Samples are grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on m-plane sapphire. A critical-point model is used to render a spectroscopic model dielectric function tensor and to determine direct electronic band-to-band transition parameters, including the direction dependent two lowest-photon energy band-to-band transitions associated with the anisotropic bandgap. We obtain the composition dependence of the direction dependent two lowest band-to-band transitions with separate bandgap bowing parameters associated with the perpendicular (bEg,⊥ = 1.31 eV) and parallel (bEg,|| = 1.61 eV) electric field polarization to the lattice c direction. Our density functional theory calculations indicate a transition from indirect to direct characteristics between α-Ga2O3 and α-Al2O3, respectively, and we identify a switch in band order where the lowest band-to-band transition occurs with polarization perpendicular to c in α-Ga2O3 whereas for α-Al2O3 the lowest transition occurs with polarization parallel to c. We estimate that the change in band order occurs at approximately 40% Al content. Additionally, the characteristic of the lowest energy critical point transition for polarization parallel to c changes from M1 type in α-Ga2O3 to M0 type van Hove singularity in α-Al2O3.

Characterization of wurtzite Zn1−xMgxO epilayers grown on ScAlMgO4 substrate by methods of optical spectroscopy

Wurtzite Zn1−xMgxO epilayers (x = 0, 0.26, 0.44, 0.49, 0.66) grown by the plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on ScAlMgO4 substrate were characterized using the methods of optical spectroscopy: spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), optical absorption (OA), and photoluminescence (PL). The complex dielectric function in the spectral range of 210–1690 nm, band gap width, exciton absorption and emission parameters, and film quality were studied and discussed. Individual characterization of samples was provided by combining SE and OA measurement results. The observed increase of the band gap up to 4.35 eV with the rise of the MgO content allowed the recommendation of the wurtzite Zn1−xMgxO epilayers as material for UV sensors. The origin of defects hampering the practical application of the materials was discussed.

Low temperature epitaxial technology for GaN-based materials

<p indent="0mm">The band gap of GaN-based semiconductor materials covers the entire visible light band and has excellent physical and chemical properties, which makes it widely used in the fabrication of optoelectronic devices, power electronic devices, and radio frequency and microwave devices. Traditional GaN-based materials are usually epitaxially grown on high-temperature-resistant single-crystalline substrates such as sapphire, silicon, or silicon carbide using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), or hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). These epitaxial techniques usually use high temperature to crack the precursors involved in the reaction. With the deepening of informatization and intelligentization, the common demands for low-cost and flexibility of opto(electronic) devices have emerged. On one hand, the display technology is a key link to realize information exchange and intelligence. Moving towards an intelligent society requires further reduction of the display cost per unit area. At the same time, the wearable and portable flexible display technology also has broad application prospects. In addition, solid-state lighting has gradually penetrated into every corner of human life with the improvement of device performance. The application scenarios are rich and colorful. Judging from this, low-cost surface light sources will be a strong competitor for the next generation of lighting technology routes. On the other hand, reducing the fabrication cost of electronic devices per unit area also needs more attention in the future. For example, flexible electronic skin has broad and huge application prospects in artificial limbs, robotics, medical detection and diagnosis, etc., which has also spawned the demand for low-cost flexible sensors. It can be seen that the common requirements of the above applications for core components are low cost and flexibility, which is also one of the main development directions of the next generation of (opto)electronic devices. Amorphous substrates (such as glass, plastic, metal, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), etc.) that are cheap and easy to fabricate are ideal choices, but a significant disadvantage is that amorphous substrates cannot withstand high growth temperatures. Therefore, the need for low-temperature epitaxy of GaN-based materials has arisen, that is, a kind of epitaxy equipment that can use external electric field energy to crack the reaction precursor at low temperatures. So far, a variety of low-temperature epitaxial technologies have been developed based on the physical vapor deposition (PVD) and the chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and preliminary research results have been obtained. The PVD techniques include reactive magnetron sputtering, plasma-assisted MBE (PA-MBE), pulsed laser deposition (PLD), pulsed sputtering deposition (PSD), laser MBE (LMBE), etc. The CVD techniques include remote plasma CVD (RPCVD), migration enhanced afterglow CVD (MEA-CVD), remote plasma-enhanced MOCVD (RPEMOCVD), radical-enhanced MOCVD (REMOCVD), electron cyclotron resonance plasma-enhanced MOCVD (ECR-PEMOCVD), inductive coupled plasma MOCVD (ICP-MOCVD), etc. In this paper, the two types of low-temperature epitaxial technologies are introduced in detail, including the device structure, working conditions and related epitaxial growth results, and the characteristics of each type of technology are summarized. Finally, the development prospect of low temperature epitaxial technologies is prospected, and the focus of future research is pointed out. We hope this work can provide a useful reference for the low temperature epitaxy research of GaN-based materials.

Toward controllable Si-doping in oxide molecular beam epitaxy using a solid SiO source: Application to β -Ga2O3

The oxidation-related issues in controlling Si doping from the Si source material in oxide molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are addressed by using its solid suboxide, SiO, as an alternative source material in a conventional effusion cell. Line-of-sight quadrupole mass spectrometry of the direct SiO-flux (ΦSiO) from the source at different temperatures (TSiO) confirmed SiO molecules to sublime with an activation energy of 3.3 eV. The TSiO-dependent ΦSiO was measured in vacuum before and after subjecting the source material to an O2-background of 10−5 mbar (typical oxide MBE regime). The absence of a significant ΦSiO difference indicates negligible source oxidation in molecular O2. Mounted in an oxygen plasma-assisted MBE, Si-doped β-Ga2O3 layers were grown using this source. The ΦSiO at the substrate was evaluated [from 2.9 × 109 cm−2 s−1 (TSiO = 700 °C) to 5.5 × 1013 cm−2 s−1 (TSiO = 1000 °C)] and Si-concentration in the β-Ga2O3 layers measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry highlighting unprecedented control of continuous Si-doping for oxide MBE, i.e., NSi from 4 × 1017 cm−3 (TSiO = 700 °C) up to 1.7 × 1020 cm−3 (TSiO = 900 °C). For a homoepitaxial β-Ga2O3 layer, a Hall charge carrier concentration of 3 × 1019 cm−3 in line with the provided ΦSiO (TSiO = 800 °C) is demonstrated. No SiO-incorporation difference was found between β-Ga2O3(010) layers homoepitaxially grown at 750 °C and β-Ga2O3(−201) heteroepitaxial layers grown at 550 °C on c-plane sapphire. However, the presence of activated oxygen (plasma) resulted in partial source oxidation and related decrease in doping concentration (particularly at TSiO &amp;lt; 800 °C), which has been tentatively explained with a simple model. Degassing the source at 1100 °C reverted this oxidation. Concepts to reduce source oxidation during MBE-growth are referenced.

AlGaN Quantum Disk Nanorods with Efficient UV-B Emission Grown on Si(111) Using Molecular Beam Epitaxy.

AlGaN nanorods have attracted increasing amounts of attention for use in ultraviolet (UV) optoelectronic devices. Here, self-assembled AlGaN nanorods with embedding quantum disks (Qdisks) were grown on Si(111) using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE). The morphology and quantum construction of the nanorods were investigated and well-oriented and nearly defect-free nanorods were shown to have a high density of about 2 × 1010 cm−2. By controlling the substrate temperature and Al/Ga ratio, the emission wavelengths of the nanorods could be adjusted from 276 nm to 330 nm. By optimizing the structures and growth parameters of the Qdisks, a high internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of the AlGaN Qdisk nanorods of up to 77% was obtained at 305 nm, which also exhibited a shift in the small emission wavelength peak with respect to the increasing temperatures during the PL measurements.

Ion implantation of tunnel junction as a method for defining the aperture of III-nitride-based micro-light-emitting diodes.

We report on III-nitride-based micro-light-emitting diodes (µLEDs) operating at 450 nm wavelength with diameters down to 2 µm. Devices with a standard LED structure followed by a tunnel junction were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The emission size of µLEDs was defined by shallow He+ implantation of the tunnel junction region. The ion implantation process allows to create flat devices, applicable to further epitaxial regrowth. The shift of current density for the maximum external quantum efficiency as a function of µLEDs diameter was observed. This effect may be a fingerprint of the change in the external efficiency related to the lateral carrier diffusion (limited by holes) in InGaN quantum wells.

Selective Area Epitaxy of GaN Nanowires on Si Substrates Using Microsphere Lithography: Experiment and Theory.

GaN nanowires were grown using selective area plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on SiOx/Si(111) substrates patterned with microsphere lithography. For the first time, the temperature–Ga/N2 flux ratio map was established for selective area epitaxy of GaN nanowires. It is shown that the growth selectivity for GaN nanowires without any parasitic growth on a silica mask can be obtained in a relatively narrow range of substrate temperatures and Ga/N2 flux ratios. A model was developed that explains the selective growth range, which appeared to be highly sensitive to the growth temperature and Ga flux, as well as to the radius and pitch of the patterned pinholes. High crystal quality in the GaN nanowires was confirmed through low-temperature photoluminescence measurements.

(Invited) Monolayer h-BN: Epitaxy, Properties, and Emerging Device Applications

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has shown tremendous promise when used alongside other two-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene, and as a wide-bandgap semiconductor for deep-ultraviolet optoelectronics and quantum photonics. Owing to its large bandgap energy comparable or higher than Al(Ga)N, h-BN can be used to form heterostructures to address some of the critical challenges of Al(Ga)N-based systems. To date, however, many fundamental material properties of h-BN remain unknown. For example, its bandgap energy remains under debate, with reports spanning from 5.9 to 6.5 eV. There is also strong controversy as to whether h-BN has a direct or indirect bandgap. In this context, We have studied the epitaxy of h-BN by using ultrahigh temperature (up to 1850 °C) plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on sapphire, Ni and HOPG substrates. We show that, when grown at sufficiently high temperature, h-BN can exhibit predominantly excitonic emission at ~220 nm. The measured luminescence intensity is orders of magnitude higher than AlN under identical conditions. By forming a p-i-n structure using this high-quality h-BN as the active region, the current-voltage (I-V) and electroluminescence characteristics of a first demonstration of a h-BN deep UV LED will be reported.

Step-flow growth of Al droplet free AlN epilayers grown by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy

We have investigated an Al modulation epitaxy (AME) method to obtain step-flow growth of Al droplet free AlN layers by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). At the usual growth temperature of (Al)GaN/AlN heterostructures, Al atom migration and desorption rate are very low and consequently it is very difficult to avoid the formation of Al droplets on AlN growth front by conventional MBE growth method. By adopting the AME growth method, such a difficulty has been effectively overcome and step flow growth mode of AlN has been clearly observed. By optimizing the AME growth time sequence, namely, AlN growth time and N radical beam treatment time, Al droplet free AlN layers with step flow growth characteristics have been obtained, with atomic flat surfaces and an average atomic step width of ∼118 nm at 970 °C–1000 °C, which is still suitable to grow (Al)GaN/AlN heterostructures by MBE.

Growth of uniform Mg-doped p-AlGaN nanowires using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy technique for UV-A emitters

In this manuscript, we have shown the growth and extensive structural and optical characteristic of the uniformly Mg-doped Al0.23Ga0.77N (UV-A region, λ ∼ 323 nm) nanowire. The Kelvin probe force microscopy was employed to determine the profile of holes in p-type AlGaN nanowires by measuring the work function changes induced by Mg incorporation. The influence of surface band bending on doping concentration has thoroughly been discussed. Our experiment confirms the homogeneous incorporation of Mg throughout the nanowire without any top surface Mg segregation. In this work, we have also demonstrated a comprehensive analysis of acceptor states induced thermal quenching behaviour in the optical transition of Mg-doped AlGaN nanowire. We propose a phenomenological model, based on the rate equation which confirms that achieving higher ‘hole’ (p-doping) concentration in AlGaN nanowire (>1018 cm−3) is more conducive than the planar counterpart if the growth of NWs is carried out at optimized process conditions. This rate equation-based model has also demonstrated the influence of sidewall surface passivation in those AlGaN nanowires.

Ohmic-Schottky conversion of ZnO/metal contact modulated by a plasma surface treatment method

Herein, we present a systematical investigation with regard to the Ar/N2/O2 plasma surface treatments on the ZnO thin films prepared by a radio frequency plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (RF MBE) technique. The as-deposited ZnO thin films are exposed to the Ar, N2 and O2 plasma atmospheres under different RF powers. The conductivity and the surface morphology of the post-treated ZnO thin films are strongly depending on the treatment species and the RF powers. Higher RF power results in lower resistance and reduces the grain boundaries of the surface. Indium and gold metals are designed as the Ohmic and Schottky contact electrodes, respectively. The ZnO/Au contacts based on both pre-treated films and Ar/N2 plasma-treated films show obvious Ohmic contact behaviors. However, In/ZnO/Au the devices fabricated on the ZnO thin film which exposes to the O2 plasma show distinct rectified behavior, indicating the conversion of ZnO/Au contact from Ohmic type to Schottky type. The O2 plasma treatment may play two key roles within the contact conversion: 1, removing the surface contaminants such as carbon, absorbed oxygen and hydroxide; 2, repairing the defects (Vo), thus reducing the near surface donor density and defect assisted hopping transportation.