Low-defect and stress-free AlN(0001) nanoprisms and microrods selectively grown on micro-patterned c-sapphire substrate by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy.

Autor: Jmerik, V. N., Semenov, A. N., Nechaev, D. V., Troshkov, S. I., Sakhno, D. D., Alekseev, P. A., Kirilenko, D. A., Eliseyev, I. A., Davydov, V. Yu., Abbas, A. S.
Předmět:
Zdroj: Applied Physics Letters; 6/3/2024, Vol. 124 Issue 23, p1-7, 7p
Abstrakt: This paper describes different growth modes of AlN layers on micro-cone patterned c-sapphire substrates (μ-PSSs) using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Ordered arrays of AlN nanoprisms and microrods were selectively grown on the tips of μ-PSS's microcones according to a bottom-up formation mechanism using sequential migration enhanced and metal-modulated epitaxy (MME) under metal-rich growth conditions at 820 °C. Transmission electron microscopy revealed structurally perfect AlN regions above the tips of the μ-PSSs, which initiate as inverted nanopyramids with {10 11 ¯ } side faces, evolving into hexagonal nanoprisms with orientations of {1 1 ¯ 00} and (0001) for side and top surfaces, respectively. The diameter and height of these ordered hexagonal nanoprisms, which have a 60% probability of nucleating, were about 1 μm. Long-term MME growth of these nanoprisms in both vertical and lateral directions led to the formation of AlN(0001) microrods with a maximum possible diameter of two micrometers and a height of up to 6 μm. Atomic force microscopy revealed a mixed step-flow and 2D nucleation growth mechanism for the flat tops of these AlN nanoprisms and microrods with an average surface roughness of 1–2 monolayers. Micro-Raman spectroscopy demonstrated narrow E2 (high) linewidths of 3.8 and 4.2 cm−1 for essentially stress-free AlN nanoprisms and microrods, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index