• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.557-565
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• 2014

We report the effect of basal-plane stacking faults (BSFs) on X-ray diffraction (XRD) of non-polar (11$\underline{2}$0) a-plane GaN films with different $SiN_x$ interlayers. Complete $SiN_x$ coverage and increased three-dimensional (3D) to two-dimensional (2D) transition stages substantially reduce BSF density. It was revealed that the Si-doping profile in the Si-doped GaN layer was unaffected by the introduction of a $SiN_x$ interlayer. The smallest in-plane anisotropy of the (11$\underline{2}$0) XRD ${\omega}$-scan widths was found in the sample with multiple $SiN_x$ layers, and this finding can be attributed to the relatively isotropic GaN mosaic resulting from the increase in the 3D-2D growth step. Williamson-Hall (WH) analysis of the (h0$\underline{h}$0) series of diffractions was employed to determine the c-axis lateral coherence length (LCL) and to estimate the mosaic tilt. The c-axis LCLs obtained from WH analyses of the present study's representative a-plane GaN samples were well correlated with the BSF-related results from both the off-axis XRD ${\omega}$-scan and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Based on WH and TEM analyses, the trends in BSF densities were very similar, even though the BSF densities extracted from LCLs indicated that the values were reduced by a factor of about twenty.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.47 no.8
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• pp.1-6
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• 2010

We report on the electrical properties of Ti/Al/Ni/Au (20 nm/ 150 nm/ 30 nm/ 100 nm) Ohmic contacts and the anisotropic conductivity of n-type ${\alpha}$-plane ([11-20]) GaN grown on $\gamma$-plane ([1-102]) sapphire substrates. The Ti/Al/Ni/Au Ohmic contacts and their sheet resistances are characterized by using the transfer length method (TLM) as a function of azimuthal angles. It is found that the specific contact resistance does not depend on the axis orientation and there are significant electrical anisotropy in ${\alpha}$-plane GaN films on $\gamma$-plane sapphire substrates, and the sheet resistance varies with azimuthal angles. The sheet resistance values in the direction parallel to m-axis [1-100] are 25% ~ 75% lower than those parallel to c-axis [0001] directions. Thus, Basal stacking faults (BSFs) are offered as a feasible source of the anisotropic mobility in defected m-axis direction because the band-edge discontinuities owing to the differential band gap structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.23-23
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• 2009

GaN-based nitride semiconductors have attracted considerable attention in high-brightness light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs) covering from green to ultraviolet spectral range. LED and LD heterostructures are usually grown on (0001)-$Al_2O_3$. The large lattice mismatch between $Al_2O_3$ substrates and the GaN layers leads to a high density of defects(dislocations and stacking faults). Moreover, Ga and N atoms are arranged along the polar [0001] crystallographic direction, which leads to spontaneous polarization. In addition, in the InGaN/GaN MQWs heterostructures, stress applied along the same axis can also give rise to piezoelectric polarization. The total polarization, which is the sum of spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations, is aligned along the [0001] direction of the wurtzite heterostructures. The change in the total polarization across the heterolayers results in high interface charge densities and spatial separation of the electron and hole wave functions, redshifting the photoluminescence peak and decreasing the peak intensity. The effect of polarization charges in the GaN-based heterostructures can be eliminated by growing along the non-polar [$11\bar{2}0$] (a-axis) or [$1\bar{1}00$] (m-axis) orientation instead of thecommonly used polar [0001] (c-axis). For non-polar GaN growth on non-polar substrates, the GaN films have high density of planar defects (basal stacking fault BSFs, prismatic stacking fault PSFs), because the SFs are formed on the basal plane (c-plane) due to their low formation energy. A significant reduction in defect density was recently achieved by applying blocking layer such as SiN, AlN, and AlGaN in non-polar GaN. In this work, we were performed systematic studies of the defects in the nonpolar GaN by conventional and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.31-31
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• 2010

The growth of the high-quality GaN epilayers is of significant technological importance because of their commercializedoptoelectronic applications as high-brightness light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs) in the visible and ultraviolet spectral range. The GaN-based heterostructural epilayers have the polar c-axis of the hexagonal structure perpendicular to the interfaces of the active layers. The Ga and N atoms in the c-GaN are alternatively stacked along the polar [0001] crystallographic direction, which leads to spontaneous polarization. In addition, in the InGaN/GaN MQWs, the stress applied along the same axis contributes topiezoelectric polarization, and thus the total polarization is determined as the sum of spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations. The total polarization in the c-GaN heterolayers, which can generate internal fields and spatial separation of the electron and hole wave functions and consequently a decrease of efficiency and peak shift. One of the possible solutions to eliminate these undesirable effects is to grow GaN-based epilayers in nonpolar orientations. The polarization effects in the GaN are eliminated by growing the films along the nonpolar [$11\bar{2}0$] ($\alpha$-GaN) or [$1\bar{1}00$] (m-GaN) orientation. Although the use of the nonpolar epilayers in wurtzite structure clearly removes the polarization matters, however, it induces another problem related to the formation of a high density of planar defects. The large lattice mismatch between sapphiresubstrates and GaN layers leads to a high density of defects (dislocations and stacking faults). The dominant defects observed in the GaN epilayers with wurtzite structure are one-dimensional (1D) dislocations and two-dimensional (2D) stacking faults. In particular, the 1D threading dislocations in the c-GaN are generated from the film/substrate interface due to their large lattice and thermal coefficient mismatch. However, because the c-GaN epilayers were grown along the normal direction to the basal slip planes, the generation of basal stacking faults (BSFs) is localized on the c-plane and the generated BSFs did not propagate into the surface during the growth. Thus, the primary defects in the c-GaN epilayers are 1D threading dislocations. Occasionally, the particular planar defects such as prismatic stacking faults (PSFs) and inversion domain boundaries are observed. However, since the basal slip planes in the $\alpha$-GaN are parallel to the growth direction unlike c-GaN, the BSFs with lower formation energy can be easily formed along the growth direction, where the BSFs propagate straightly into the surface. Consequently, the lattice mismatch between film and substrate in $\alpha$-GaN epilayers is mainly relaxed through the formation of BSFs. These 2D planar defects are placed along only one direction in the cross-sectional view. Thus, the nonpolar $\alpha$-GaN films have different atomic arrangements along the two orthogonal directions ($[0001]_{GaN}$ and $[\bar{1}100]_{GaN}$ axes) on the $\alpha$-plane, which are expected to induce anisotropic biaxial strain. In this study, the anisotropic strain relaxation behaviors in the nonpolar $\alpha$-GaN epilayers grown on ($1\bar{1}02$) r-plane sapphire substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVO) were investigated, and the formation mechanism of the abnormal zigzag shape PSFs was discussed using high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM).

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.172-172
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• 2009

In this study, we presented comparative discrimination methods to identify various line and planar defects observed in nonpolar a-GaN epilayers on r-sapphire substrates. Unlike the case of conventional c-GaN, which is dominated by perfect threading dislocations, systematic identification of undistinguishable defects using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is necessary to suppress the propagation of defects in nonpolar GaN epilayers. Cross-sectional TEM images near the [0001] zone axis revealed that perfect mixed and pure screw type dislocations are visible, while pure edge, partial dislocations, and basal stacking faults (BSFs) are not discernible. In tilted cross-sectional TEM images along the [$1\bar{2}10$] zone axis, the dominant defects were BSFs and partial dislocations for the $g=10\bar{1}0$ and 0002 two-beam images, respectively. From plan view TEM images taken along the [$11\bar{2}0$] axis, it was found that the dominantpartial and perfect dislocations were Frank-Shockley with b=${\pm}1/6$<$20\bar{2}3$> and mixed type without an 1 component including b=${\pm}1/3$<$1\bar{2}10$> and ${\pm}1/3$<$\bar{2}110$>, respectively. Prismatic stacking faults were observed as inclined line contrast near the [0001] zone axis and were visible as band contrast in the two-beam images along the [$1\bar{2}10$] and [$11\bar{2}0$] zone axes.