Plasma-assisted electroepitaxy as a method for the growth of GaN layers

✍ Scribed by S.V. Novikov; C.R. Staddon; A.J. Kent; C.T. Foxon

• Book ID: 104022294
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 439 KB
• Volume: 316
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-0248
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2010.12.062

✦ Synopsis

In the current study we have demonstrated the feasibility of a novel approach for the growth of the GaN layers namely plasma-assisted electroepitaxy (PAEE). In this method, we have tried to combine advantages of the plasma process for producing high concentrations of active N species in the Ga melt with the advantages of electroepitaxy in transferring the N species from the Ga surface to the growth interface without spontaneous crystallization on the surface or within the solution. We have designed and built a new growth chamber which allows us to combine the Molecular Beam Epitaxy process with a Liquid Phase Electroepitaxy system. We have demonstrated that it is possible to grow GaN layers by PAEE at growth temperatures as low as $ 500 1C and with low nitrogen overpressures of $ 3 Â 10 À 5 Torr. We have shown that the combination of the two processes, an N-plasma flux and a DC current, are vital for the successful growth of GaN layers by PAEE. The exact mechanisms, which lead to the growth of GaN by PAEE, still need to be investigated.