Sa. Nikishin et al., High quality AlN and GaN grown on Si(111) by gas source molecular beam epitaxy with ammonia, MRS I J N S, 5, 2000, pp. NIL_401-NIL_406
We describe the growth of high quality AIN and GaN on Si(1 1 1) by gas sour
ce molecular beam epitaxy (GSMBE) with ammonia (NH3). The initial nucleatio
n (at 1130-1190K) of an AlN monolayer with full substrate coverage resulted
in a very rapid transition to two-dimensional (2D) growth mode of AlN. The
rapid transition to the 2D growth mode of AlN is essential for the subsequ
ent growth of high quality GaN, and complete elimination of cracking in thi
ck (> 2 mum) GaN layers. We show, using Raman scattering (RS) and photolumi
nescence (PL) measurements, that the tensile stress in the GaN is due to th
ermal expansion mismatch, is below the ultimate strength of breaking of GaN
, and produces a sizable shift in the bandgap. We show that the GSMBE AW an
d GaN layers grown on Si can be used as a substrate for subsequent depositi
on of thick AlN and GaN layers by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE).