Atomic Plane Misorientation Assisted Crystalline Quality Improvement in Epitaxial Growth of AlN on a Nanopatterned Sapphire (0001) Surface for Deep Ultraviolet Photoelectric Devices

Deng，Yong1,2; Xie，Nan3,4; Hu，Wenyu5; Ma，Zhenyu1; Xu，Fujun4; Chen，Longqing6; Qiu，Wenbin6; Zhao，Lin1; Tao，Hong1; Wu，Bo1; Huang，Yi1; Ma，Jian1; Wang，Xiaoyi1,7,8; Zhang，Xuqi1; Qiu，Yang2; Cui，Xudong7; Jin，Chaoyuan8,9,10; Chauvat，Marie Pierre11; Ruterana，Pierre11; Walther，Thomas12

2023-03-24

10.1021/acsanm.2c05372

ACS Applied Nano Materials   Impact Factor & Quartile

2574-0970

The atomic-layer misorientation during the growth of a 5 μm thick AlN thin film on a patterned (0001) sapphire substrate was investigated by the scan rotation approach using a probe aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope at a nanometer scale. Through the geometrical phase analysis of the resulting twisted atomic structure at different depths below the top surface, it is shown that over 10% of local tensile and compressive strain is balanced in a 1.6° twist of the c-planes within the first micron of AlN growth. As a consequence, the formation of threading dislocations is reduced. The in-plane twist is seen to decrease toward the layer surface down to 0.5°. Finally, growth has adopted the conventional step flow mechanism with a reduced density of emerging dislocations by the thickness of 5 μm. Our finding forecasts the possibility of understanding the relationship between atomic bilayer twist and local strain accommodation at a nanometer scale, which could provide guidance for achieving better crystal quality of AlN thin films on patterned substrates during epitaxy.

misorientation moiré fringes scan rotation scanning transmission electron microscopy strain accommodation strain relaxation

SCI

English

Corresponding

WOS:000948781900001

2-s2.0-85149817202

Scopus

1.College of Electronic and Information,Southwest Minzu University,State Ethnic Affairs Commission,Chengdu,610047,China
2.Pico center,SUSTech Core Research Facilities,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China
3.Institute of Integrated Circuits,China Center for Information Industry Development,Beijing,100048,China
4.State Key Laboratory of Artificial Microstructure and Mesoscopic Physics,School of Physics,Peking University,Beijing,100871,China
5.Department of Physics,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518056,China
6.Key Laboratory of Radiation Physics and Technology of Ministry of Education,Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology,Sichuan University,Chengdu,610064,China
7.Institute of Chemical Materials,China Academy of Engineering Physics,Mianyang,621900,China
8.Institute of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics,College of Information Science and Electronic Engineering,Zhejiang University,Hangzhou,310007,China
9.Zhejiang Laboratory,Hangzhou,311121,China
10.International Joint Innovation Center,Zhejiang University,Haining,314400,China
11.CIMAP,UMR 6252,CNRS-ENSICAEN-CEA-UCBN,Caen,6 Boulevard Maréchal Juin,14050 Cedex 04,France
12.Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering,University of Sheffield,Sheffield,Mappin St.,S1 3JD,United Kingdom

Deng，Yong,Xie，Nan,Hu，Wenyu,et al. Atomic Plane Misorientation Assisted Crystalline Quality Improvement in Epitaxial Growth of AlN on a Nanopatterned Sapphire (0001) Surface for Deep Ultraviolet Photoelectric Devices[J]. ACS Applied Nano Materials,2023,6(6):4262-4270.

Deng，Yong.,Xie，Nan.,Hu，Wenyu.,Ma，Zhenyu.,Xu，Fujun.,...&Walther，Thomas.(2023).Atomic Plane Misorientation Assisted Crystalline Quality Improvement in Epitaxial Growth of AlN on a Nanopatterned Sapphire (0001) Surface for Deep Ultraviolet Photoelectric Devices.ACS Applied Nano Materials,6(6),4262-4270.

Deng，Yong,et al."Atomic Plane Misorientation Assisted Crystalline Quality Improvement in Epitaxial Growth of AlN on a Nanopatterned Sapphire (0001) Surface for Deep Ultraviolet Photoelectric Devices".ACS Applied Nano Materials 6.6(2023):4262-4270.