HR-XRD and AFM Analysis of AlN/SiC Structures for Optoelectronic Device Applications

Abstract

In this paper, we examined the successful growth of AlN on SiC substrate using molecular beam epitaxy technique (MBE). The AlN buffer layers are grown with (100, 130, 140 and 150 nm) thickness. XRD technique was used to analyze the four samples of Wurtsite structure including strain cases, dislocation densities and other micro-structural properties. XRD peak broadening data are used to determine crystallite size and strain values by using Williamson-Hall (WH) method. High resolution X-Ray Diffraction (HR-XRD) peak analysis method is used with Scherrer, WH, modified WH, uniform deformation model (U-DM), uniform stress deformation model (US-DM), uniform deformation energy density model (UDE-DM). Crystallite size, strain, stress, energy density values are determined by using young module. According to the results obtained from our data, it is observed that the energy value sharply decreases and then increases. This behavior of energy density is consistent with the strain and stress behaviors. It has been noticed that AlN buffer layers grown without tension and relaxation are more suitable for optoelectronic devices. Therefore, it is understood that the thickness values of AlN buffer layers are important.

Keywords

• AlN
• SiC
• OCVD
• HRXRD

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