Published in Phys. Stat. Sol. (a) 202, 722 (2005).

Dislocation density reduction in GaN using porous SiN interlayers

Ashutosh Sagar (a), R. M. Feenstra (a), C. K. Inoki (b), T. S. Kuan (b), Y. Fu (c), Y. T. Moon (c), F. Yun (c), and H. Morkoç (c)
(a) Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
(b) Dept. of Physics, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY 12222 USA
(c) Dept. Electrical Eng. and Dept. Physics, Virginia Commonwealth Univ., Richmond, VA 23284 USA

Abstract

The influence of a thin porous SiN interlayer on the growth of GaN by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) has been studied. The interlayer is deposited on a GaN template by introducing silane in the presence of ammonia into the MOCVD chamber, and a GaN overlayer is deposited on the interlayer. The SiN interlayer produces inhomogeneous nucleation and lateral growth of the overlayer, causing bending of dislocations towards facet walls, and it also blocks some dislocations from entering the overlayer. The dislocation density for a GaN overlayer grown on a SiN interlayer was reduced to 7x108 cm-2, which is an order of magnitude less than that for a control sample grown without an interlayer.

Click here for preprint of paper, in pdf format

Return to Home Page of Feenstra group