Characterization of AlInN/AlN/GaN Heterostructures with Different AlN Buffer Thickness

Creative Commons License

Corekci S., Dugan S., Ozturk M. K., Cetin S. Ş., ÇAKMAK M., Ozcelik S., ...More

JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, vol.45, no.7, pp.3278-3284, 2016 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 45 Issue: 7
  • Publication Date: 2016
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s11664-016-4536-z
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.3278-3284
  • Keywords: AlInN/AlN/GaN HEMT, AlInN barrier, AlN buffer, ELECTRON-MOBILITY TRANSISTORS, TRANSPORT-PROPERTIES, GAN, LAYERS, DISLOCATIONS, LUMINESCENCE
  • Gazi University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Two AlInN/AlN/GaN heterostructures with 280-nm- and 400-nm-thick AlN buffer grown on sapphire substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) have been investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL) and Hall-effect measurements. The symmetric (0002) plane with respect to the asymmetric (102) plane in the 280-nm-thick AlN buffer has a higher crystal quality, as opposed to the 400-nm-thick buffer. The thinner buffer improves the crystallinity of both (0002) and (102) planes in the GaN layers, it also provides a sizeable reduction in dislocation density of GaN. Furthermore, the lower buffer thickness leads to a good quality surface with an rms roughness of 0.30 nm and a dark spot density of 4.0 x 10(8) cm(-2). The optical and transport properties of the AlInN/AlN/GaN structure with the relatively thin buffer are compatible with the enhancement in its structural quality, as verified by XRD and AFM results.