Published in MRS Internet J. Nitride Semicond. Res. 5S1, W3.47 (2000).

TEM Study of the Morphology Of GaN/SiC (0001) Grown at Various Temperatures by MBE

W. L. Sarney*, L. Salamanca-Riba*, V. Ramachandran**, R. M. Feenstra**, D. W. Greve***
*Dept. of Materials & Nuclear Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742-2115
**Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
***Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

Abstract

GaN films grown on SiC (0001) by MBE at various substrate temperatures (600 - 750°C) were characterized by RHEED, STM, x-ray diffraction, AFM and TEM. This work focuses on the TEM analysis of the films' features, such as stacking faults and dislocations, which are related to the substrate temperature. There are several basal plane stacking faults in the form of cubic inclusions for samples grown at low temperatures compared to those grown at high temperatures. The dislocation density is greatest for the film grown at 600°C, and it steadily decreases with increasing growth temperatures. Despite the presence of various defects, x-ray analysis shows that the GaN films are of high quality. The double crystal rocking curve full width at half maximum (FWHM) for the GaN (0002) peak is less than 2 arc-minutes for all of the films we measured and it decreases with increasing growth temperature.

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