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By optimising the growth temperature of the AlGaN layers and using high-temperature AlN buffer layers, high-quality Al x Ga1 – x N layers (x = 0.15, 0.21, 0.26, and 0.3) were obtained, in which stimulated emission in the UV spectral range 330 – 297 nm was implemented with the threshold intensity of excitation I th ≈ 0.7 – 1.4 MW cm−2, respectively. It is found that the threshold value of the stimulated emission of AlGaN layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy is largely determined by the intensity of the process of thermal decomposition of GaN, which affects the surface morphology and, consequently, the amount of optical scattering loss. It is shown that no pronounced localisation of nonequilibrium charge carriers occurs in the AlGaN layers, which is manifested in the absence of a large Stokes shift and in the realisation of optical amplification at transitions in an electron-hole plasma, and also indicates a relatively homogeneous material composition.

In this paper a processing technique for sapphire is presented which combines laser-induced amorphization and subsequent selective wet etching of amorphized sapphire as well as anisotropic wet etching of single-crystalline sapphire (α-Al2O3). Using this technique, microstructures can be realized on the surface and in the bulk of sapphire substrates. By focusing ultra-short laser pulses inside sapphire, its structure can be transformed from crystalline into amorphous. The modified material can be selectively removed using etchants, such as hydrofluoric acid or potassium hydroxide (KOH), solely dissolving the amorphized part. In this work, however, an etchant consisting of a standard solution of sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid (96 vol% H2SO4: 85 vol% H3PO4, 3:1 vol%) at 180 °C is utilized. This method allows the realization of structures which are impossible to achieve when using conventional etchants which solely dissolve the amorphized sapphire. Ultrashort pulsed laser irradiation (230 fs) is used in this study as starting point for the subsequent anisotropic etching to form microstructures on the surface or in the bulk of sapphire that are terminated by characteristic crystal planes. In particular, the appearance of etching-induced patterns formed by stacks of rhombohedra is shown for structures below the surface, whereas triangular pits are achieved in surface processing.

This paper presents a comprehensive study of the optical and electrical dielectric material properties of six commonly-used silicon and glass substrates at terahertz (THz) frequencies, including refractive index, absorption coefficient, dielectric constant and loss factor. The material characterization techniques used in this paper feature THz time-domain transmission and reflection spectroscopy with the measurement frequencies from 0.5 THz up to a maximum of 6.5 THz. Of the six selected dielectric and semiconductor substrates, two are silicon wafers with resistivities ranging from 0.001 to 0.02 Ω-cm. From the measurement results, loss tangents of the selected silicon wafers range from 0.680 to 5.455 and the dielectric constants are from 1.079 to 17.735. The four other wafers are all glass-based substrates: D263 glass, Borofloat 33 glass, fused silica and Sapphire. From the measurements, it is found that the THz dielectric properties vary considerably between the substrate samples e.g. dielectric constants range from 1.925 to 3.207 while loss tangents are from 0.042 × 10−3 to 0.127. Most of the selected silicon and glass-based substrates are quite useful for many THz applications, e.g., THz integrated circuits (THz ICs), THz microsystem technologies (THz MSTs) and THz system-on-a-chip (THz SoC) and system-on-substrate (SiP).

AlGaN with a high Al fraction and low-dimensional structure is an important material for deep ultraviolet (DUV) optoelectronic devices. However, due to a lack of high-quality and low-cost homogeneous AlN substrates, AlN is mainly prepared by heteroepitaxy on sapphire with a large lattice mismatch. The resulting defect density and residual stress in AlN films become a bottleneck for enhancing the performance of AlGaN-based DUV light-emitting devices. In this paper, the research advances in epitaxial growth and threading dislocation (TD) control of AlN on sapphire substrates at Peking University are described, including decreasing the tilt of AlN grains by nitridation pretreatment of sapphire, forming TD loops by growth mode alternations, bending and terminating TDs at the sidewall of voids by an image force on nano-patterned sapphire substrates, promoting the climbing and meeting of TDs by extrinsic supersaturated vacancies, etc. Based on high-quality AlN with a TD density of ∼108 cm−2, 276 nm DUV light-emitting diodes are fabricated with a light output power of 17.3 mW at an injection current of 100 mA.

Gallium nitride (GaN) thin film of the nitrogen polarity (N-polar) was grown on C-plane sapphire and misoriented C-plane sapphire substrates respectively by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The misorientation angle is off-axis from C-plane toward M-plane of the substrates, and the angle is 2° and 4° respectively. The nitrogen polarity was confirmed by examining the images of the scanning electron microscope before and after the wet etching in potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution. The morphology was studied by the optical microscope and atomic force microscope. The crystalline quality was characterized by the x-ray diffraction. The lateral coherence length, the tilt angle, the vertical coherence length, and the vertical lattice-strain were acquired using the pseudo-Voigt function to fit the x-ray diffraction curves and then calculating with four empirical formulae. The lateral coherence length increases with the misorientation angle, because higher step density and shorter distance between adjacent steps can lead to larger lateral coherence length. The tilt angle increases with the misorientation angle, which means that the misoriented substrate can degrade the identity of crystal orientation of the N-polar GaN film. The vertical lattice-strain decreases with the misorientation angle. The vertical coherence length does not change a lot as the misorientation angle increases and this value of all samples is close to the nominal thickness of the N-polar GaN layer. This study helps to understand the influence of the misorientation angle of misoriented C-plane sapphire on the morphology, the crystalline quality, and the microstructure of N-polar GaN films.

Experimental studies aimed at developing an optical frequency standard based on ultracold magnesium atoms with a relative uncertainty of Δν/ν < 10–16 are performed. The frequency of the clock laser system at a wavelength of 457 nm is stabilised to narrow optical resonances (Ramsey fringes) in time-separated laser fields interacting with cold magnesium atoms localised in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). The frequency stability of the laser system is investigated using a femtosecond comb based on a Ti:sapphire laser. Long-term frequency stability (determined by the Allan function) of ~5 × 10–15 at averaging time τ = 1000 s is obtained.

AlN thin films were deposited on c-, a- and r-plane sapphire substrates by the magnetron sputtering technique. The influence of high-temperature thermal annealing (HTTA) on the structural, optical properties as well as surface stoichiometry were comprehensively investigated. The significant narrowing of the (0002) diffraction peak to as low as 68 arcsec of AlN after HTTA implies a reduction of tilt component inside the AlN thin films, and consequently much-reduced dislocation densities. This is also supported by the appearance of E 2(high) Raman peak and better Al–N stoichiometry after HTTA. Furthermore, the increased absorption edge after HTTA suggests a reduction of point defects acting as the absorption centers. It is concluded that HTTA is a universal post-treatment technique in improving the crystalline quality of sputtered AlN regardless of sapphire orientation.

AlN/GaN resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) were grown separately on freestanding GaN (FS-GaN) substrates and sapphire substrates by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy (PA-MBE). Room temperature negative differential resistance (NDR) was obtained under forward bias for the RTDs grown on FS-GaN substrates, with the peak current densities (J p) of 175–700 kA/cm2 and peak-to-valley current ratios (PVCRs) of 1.01–1.21. Two resonant peaks were also observed for some RTDs at room temperature. The effects of two types of substrates on epitaxy quality and device performance of GaN-based RTDs were firstly investigated systematically, showing that lower dislocation densities, flatter surface morphology, and steeper heterogeneous interfaces were the key factors to achieving NDR for RTDs.

The growth of twin-free single-crystal cubic-indium oxide (c-In2O3) layers was investigated by halide vapor phase epitaxy on c-plane sapphire substrates with various off-axis angles. The growth rate of the c-In2O3 layer increased and twin formation was suppressed as the off-axis angle of the substrate was increased. A single-crystal c-In2O3(111) layer grown on a sapphire substrate with a 5° off-axis angle showed a room temperature carrier density and mobility of 1.4 × 1016 cm−3 and 232 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively. Temperature-dependent Hall measurements of the layer revealed that the mobility is dominated by optical phonon scattering.

This study investigated the influence of high-quality AlN templates on the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of AlGaN-based multiple quantum wells (MQWs) using photoluminescence spectroscopy. An extremely high IQE of 90% at room temperature was obtained from MQWs on face-to-face annealed sputter-deposited AlN/sapphire templates. The dependence of efficiency curves on temperature indicated that nonradiative recombination centers were almost fully saturated under higher excitation power densities even at 400 K. Moreover, analysis of the efficiency curves using a rate equation model based on exciton recombination processes suggested that radiative recombination was the dominant recombination process even at 400 K.

A first principles study, was performed for a 2D, three atom thick monolayer of the Transition Metal Dichalcogenide (TMD) alloy Mo(S1-XTeX)2 adsorbed on an Al-terminated (0001)-sapphire surface. Bulk composition dependent binding energies and band-gaps, and a partial phase diagram, were calculated, using the cluster expansion method. Although the 3D Mo(S1-XTeX)2 alloy system has a phase diagram that is dominated by S-rich/Te-rich phase separation, the 2D system adsorbed on sapphire is dominated by S:Te-ordering. Five ground-state phases are predicted; all have P1 symmetry, and all disorder via contiuous (2’nd order) transitions. These results indicate that synthesis on the sapphire substrate is favorable for band-gap engineering, in which a continuous single phase solid solution allows continuous band-gap tuning, as a function of bulk composition. Whereas, bulk TMD-synthesis followed by exfoliation favors the formation of two-phase mixtures.

The paper presents results on femtosecond laser irradiation-induced modification of the optical properties of a composite material – gold nanoparticles embedded into a borosilicate glass host. The process is initiated by laser pulses delivered by a Ti:sapphire laser system with pulse duration of 35 fs. The glass samples are prepared by melt quenching with gold added as hydrogen tetrachloroaurate (III) hydrate to the initial composition. Post-fabrication annealing leads to a homogeneous formation of nanoparticles in the glass; varying the annealing parameters results in producing nanoparticles with different sizes and shapes. The laser irradiation of the samples induces significant modification of the optical spectra of the glass through changes of the nanoparticles characteristics. The effects are studied of the laser fluence, laser wavelength and laser pulses number. The heat diffusion equation is applied to estimate the temperature evolution and explain the modifications observed. The results demonstrate this technique’s efficiency in modifying the nanoparticles properties with a high 3D spatial resolution, which can be useful in fabrication of integrated optical systems.

Using internal photoemission of electrons, the energy position of the valence band top edge in 1 monolayer WS2 films on top of SiO2 thermally-grown on Si was monitored to evaluate the stability of the WS2 layer with respect to two critically important technological factors: exposure to air and the transfer of WS2 from the growth substrate (sapphire) onto SiO2. Contrary to previous results obtained for WS2 and MoS2 layers synthesized by metal film thermal sulfurization in H2S, the valence band top of metal-organic chemical vapor deposition grown WS2 is found to remain at 3.7 ± 0.1 eV below the conduction band bottom edge of SiO2 through different growth runs, transfer processing, and storage in air for several months. This exceptional stability indicates WS2 as a viable candidate for the wafer-scale technology implementation.

The formation and evolution of post-solitons has been discussed for quite some time both analytically and through the use of particle-in-cell (PIC) codes. It is however only recently that they have been directly observed in laser-plasma experiments. Relativistic electromagnetic (EM) solitons are localised structures that can occur in collisionless plasmas. They consist of a low-frequency EM wave trapped in a low electron number-density cavity surrounded by a shell with a higher electron number-density. Here we describe the results of an experiment in which a 100 TW Ti:sapphire laser (30 fs, 800 nm) irradiates a 0.03 g c m − 3 TMPTA foam target with a focused intensity I l = 9.5 × 10 17 W c m − 2 . A third harmonic ( λ p r o b e ≃ 266 nm) probe is employed to diagnose plasma motion for 25 ps after the main pulse interaction via Doppler-Spectroscopy. Both radiation-hydrodynamics and 2D PIC simulations are performed to aid in the interpretation of the experimental results. We show that the rapid motion of the probe critical-surface observed in the experiment might be a signature of post-soliton wall motion.

Lateral epitaxial growth in vertical β-Ga2O3 nanowires was studied on sapphire substrates via metal organic chemical vapor deposition by controlling growth temperature and O2 flow rate. The lateral epitaxial growth rate of β-Ga2O3 rise up with increasing growth temperature and decreasing O2 flow rate, which are related to reaction kinetics and parasitic reaction, respectively. In addition, a growth model is proposed to explain the morphology of nanowires when growth condition changes. These results can provide important guidance on addressing slow coalescence rate of β-Ga2O3 nuclear islands on heterogeneous substrates and open new doors to β-Ga2O3 optoelectronic and electronic devices on cost-effective foreign substrates.

In this paper, the simple, rejection-based kinetic Monte Carlo simulation method is applied for the approximate simulation of the etch rates and three-dimensional etch structures during anisotropic wet etching of sapphire. Based on the analysis of the composition of the atomic structure of sapphire, a model of the simplified atomic structure of sapphire is proposed, which reduces the difficulty of classifying types of surface atoms on the different crystallographic planes. This enables adopting a previously proposed six-index classification method (to differentiate effectively between the various surface atoms of sapphire) and a previously proposed removal probability function (RPF) (to link the removal probability of the surface atom with the configuration of its neighbors). By reducing errors between simulated rates and experimental rates of 11 typical crystallographic planes in the and crystallographic zones continuously with an evolutionary algorithm, reasonable values of nine energy parameters of the RPF are obtained. The simulated results describe approximately the experimental counterparts.

Recently, α-Ga2O3 has been attracting great attentions as a new wide bandgap semiconductor, however, the reason why metastable α-Ga2O3 is grown by mist chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has not been understood. In this study, in order to elucidate growth mechanism of mist CVD-grown α-Ga2O3, growth processes in the initial stage were investigated by atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction reciprocal space mapping. We found that the characteristics of mist CVD make the relaxation mechanisms of α-Ga2O3 on (0001) sapphire different from those of molecular beam epitaxy, pulsed-laser deposition, and metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. We also proposed the growth procedure in the initial stage.

A new occurrence of gem corundum was discovered in the vicinity of Naryn-Gol Creek, on the Dzhida volcanic field, Russia. Sapphires were found in both alluvial deposits of the Naryn-Gol Creek and pyroclastic rocks of the nearby Cenozoic alkali basalt volcano Barun-Hobol Pravyi. These rocks contain, in addition to sapphire, large crystals of garnet, spinel, augite, olivine, enstatite, ilmenite, and feldspar. Chemical composition of the sapphires overall is typical for corundum from basalt: rich in Fe, low in Ti and Cr. The oxygen isotopic compositions of corundum and associated minerals show δ18Osmow values ranging between 4.6‰ and 6.8‰ that is attributed to magmatic rocks. Study of impurities reveals the great role of volatiles, CO2, in particular, during the formation process.

We report the comprehensive spectroscopic results of AlN thin films deposited on the A-, R- and C-surfaces of sapphire substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The optical and structural properties of the epitaxial-grown AlN films were characterized using various techniques of high-resolution x-ray diffraction spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman scattering spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry and associated analytical tools. Our large number of measurement results clearly show that sapphire substrates of different polarities have effects on the surface roughness, dislocation density, grain size, microstrain, and surface oxygen binding capacity of the film grown on its surface. The results obtained from Ellipsometry measurements show that the thickness, band gap and roughness of AlN films grown on C-plane sapphire are the smallest among the three samples. After careful analyses of the variable temperature Raman spectra, as the temperature rises from 80 K to 800 K, the AlN film has always exhibited tensile stress. In the same temperature range, the tensile stress of the AlN film grown on the C-plane sapphire has the greatest effect with temperature. The lifetime of E2 (high) phonons gradually decays with the increase of temperature.

Remote epitaxy via graphene has recently attracted significant attention, since it provides the possibility to lift-off the grown epitaxial layer, reuse the substrate, and produce flexible devices. However, extensive research is still necessary to fully understand the III-nitride formation on the van der Waals surface of a two-dimensional material and utilize remote epitaxy to its full potential. In this work, the growth of a GaN epilayer using a GaN/sapphire template covered with monolayer graphene is presented. Metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy is chosen to fabricate both the template and the nitride epilayer on top as a cost-effective approach toward GaN homoepitaxy. One-step and multi-step growth temperature protocols are demonstrated while paying particular attention to the graphene interface. GaN seed formation on graphene is analyzed to identify remote epitaxy. Crystalline quality improvement of the epilayer by adjusting the growth parameters is further discussed to provide useful insights into GaN growth on a GaN/sapphire template via monolayer graphene.

The AlN phase transition on the (0001) Al2O3 surface was investigated. It was experimentally estimated that the AlN formation rate as a function of temperature has a different character in two temperature regions. In the region of relatively low temperatures (T < 1210 K), the AlN formation rate is limited by chemical reactions. At higher temperatures (T > 1210 K), the formation of an ordered AlN phase is determined by a continuous two-dimensional phase transition within the filled AlN-lattice-gas cells formed on the sapphire surface. A three-parameter isotherm is proposed to describe the process. The observed phase transition in the AlN lattice gas is a continuous phase transition or a second-order transition.

LEDs operating under high pulsed current density, which excludes self-heating, are of great interest for different applications, in particular, for pumping lasers with a short time of activator relaxation, such as Ti:Sapphire. The current dependences of the efficiency emission spectra as well as the rise and fall times of high-power blue and green LEDs were investigated under extremely high pulse current density up to 7 kA/cm2 and a pulse duration of 100 ns to 3 μs. An analysis of the pulse behaviour of the LEDs reveals that the main droop in efficiency and a change in the spectrum occur up to the current densities ∼ 1 kA/cm2 and seem to be non-thermal. The energy and spectral pulse characteristics of the radiation were studied with simultaneous recording the excited Ti:Sapphire photoluminescence in order to determine the optimal pumping conditions.

We have estimated the minimum laser pulse duration at which stimulated Raman scattering in gases is possible. Femtosecond Ti : sapphire laser pulses have been converted to the first Stokes in compressed nitrogen using double-pulse pumping of a gas-filled capillary tube by orthogonally polarised chirped pulses. We have obtained 980-nm Stokes pulses of 51 fs duration. The energy conversion efficiency was 12 % at a pulse repetition rate of 1 kHz and average laser output power of 2 W.

A femtosecond Raman laser utilising compressed hydrogen is experimentally investigated under pumping by radiation from a 1-kHz-repetition-rate Ti : sapphire laser. In the regime of double-pulse pumping, the conditions are determined, which correspond to the minimal energy dispersion of Stokes pulses. The optical scheme is realised, which is capable of ensuring the long-term stability of the average power of the first Stokes component with a variation of less than 2%. The Stokes pulses are produced with a pulse duration of 60 fs and energy of 0.26 mJ at a conversion efficiency of 14%.

Thermal cycle annealing (TCA) is introduced to accelerate the dislocation annihilation in sputter-deposited AlN films on sapphire. Compared with constant temperature annealing, AlN films processed by TCA showed lower dislocation densities, smoother surface morphology, and fewer defects generated from the AlN/sapphire interface. After optimizing the film thickness, AlN films with a thickness of 800 nm, and X-ray rocking curve full widths at half maximum of 10–20 arcsec (0002) and 80–90 arcsec (10-12) were demonstrated, providing a simple and low-cost way to prepare high-quality AlN/sapphire templates for high-performance ultraviolet light-emitting diodes.

The thermal stability of α-(Al x Ga1–x )2O3 films grown on c-plane sapphire substrates was investigated. The α-(Al x Ga1–x )2O3 epitaxial films grown by mist chemical vapor deposition were annealed at temperatures in the range of 600 °C–1100 °C in an atmospheric furnace, and then the crystal structures of the films were characterized using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. When the Al composition was less than 0.5, the α-(Al x Ga1–x )2O3 films converted to the β-phase, which is the thermodynamically most stable phase for Ga2O3. The thermal stability was enhanced by increase in the Al composition, and α-(Al x Ga1–x )2O3 with x = 0.45 maintained the corundum structure after annealing at 950 °C. On the other hand, the α-(Al x Ga1–x )2O3 layers with Al contents higher than 0.6 were stable against the thermal treatment and did not show phase transformation to other phases upon high-temperature annealing at 1100 °C.

The structural and electronic properties of In2O3 epitaxial films grown on c-sapphire substrates by a pulsed laser deposition technique are studied as functions of various growth conditions. Our study shows that growth temperature, growth time, oxygen partial pressure, and post-growth cooling conditions play important roles in governing the magnitude and character of the overall change in unit cell volume (volume strain) of the lattice. It is found that biaxial strain, which is developed due to lattice and thermal expansion coefficient mismatches between the layer and the substrate, leads to overall compression of the lattice. Interestingly, a hydrostatic tensile strain is found to coexist with biaxial strain in samples, which, following growth, are cooled to room temperature at a rate much slower than the natural rate of cooling. It has been observed that the overall strain can be varied from compressive to tensile by changing the growth parameters. The study further shows a systematic variation of the bandgap (from 3.8 to 3.1 eV) with a change in the unit cell volume of these layers, demonstrating the strong influence of strain on the band structural properties of the material.

Though there are still disputes on whether the threading dislocation density (TDD), to produce high quality Gallium Nitride ( GaN ) with low TDD is needed. In this passage, we would first show the impact of dislocation and review the latest methods to reduce dislocation on Si, GaN, and sapphire. The Si substrating with serpentine channels could produce GaN by using Si substrate with low density dislocations. The method that use the markless-3D provides a new way to reduce the dislocation from big off-angle. The multiple-step growth technique controls the conditions of crystallization and use two steps of crystallizing to grow with both low dislocation density and 2D growth shape. The last method is to use the Na-flux method to exclude cracks with sapphire in crystal.

Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition of approximately 300-nm thick epitaxial AlInN films with different alloy compositions was performed using a semi-relaxed c-plane GaInN template as an underlying substrate. The GaInN template consisted of a Ga0.98In0.02N film on a facet-structured GaN film formed on a c-plane sapphire substrate by the epitaxial lateral overgrowth technique, and its surface was treated with the chemical-mechanical polishing. It was observed that an Al0.835In0.165N film grown with an in-plane tensile strain exhibited a relatively smooth surface whereas an Al0.781In0.219N film grown with an in-plane compressive strain exhibited a granular morphology owing to a columnar polycrystalline structure. This phenomenon was quite similar to that observed for AlInN films grown non GaN/sapphire templates (GaN templates); therefore, it was speculated that the microstructure variation might have been caused by the in-plane compressive strain generated in AlInN films on the GaInN template in the same way as on GaN templates or FS-GaN substrates.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) on the c-plane sapphire has been a very popular system to study in the two-dimensional (2D) materials community. Bottom-up synthesis of monolayer (ML) MoS2 with excellent electrical properties has been achieved on sapphire by various methods, making it a very promising candidate to be used in the next generation nano-electronic devices. However, large-area ML MoS2 with comparable quality as the relatively small size exfoliated ML remains quite a challenge. To overcome this bottle neck, a comprehensive understanding of the structure of the as-grown ML material is an essential first step. Here, we report a detailed structural characterization of wafer-scale continuous epitaxial ML MoS2 grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on sapphire using an azimuthal reflection high-energy electron diffraction (ARHEED) technique. With ARHEED we can map not only 2D but also 3D reciprocal space structure of the ML statistically. From the oscillation in the ARHEED intensity profile along the vertical direction of the ML, we derived a real space distance of ~3 Å at the interface of ML and sapphire. Quantitative diffraction spot broadening analyses of the 3D reciprocal space map reveals low density defects and a small angular misalignment of orientation domains in ML MoS2. Based on atomic force microscopy height distribution analysis, cross-section scanning transmission electron microscopy, and density functional theory calculations, we suggest that there exists a passivation layer between MoS2 ML and sapphire substrate. This ARHEED methodology also has been applied to ML WS2 and is expected to be applicable to other ML transition metal dichalcogenides on arbitrary crystalline or non-crystalline substrates.

Cluster magnetorheological finishing is a novel machining method for attaining super-smooth and even surfaces. The aim of the research is to strengthen the role of cluster magnetorheological polishing pads and improve the material removal rate (MRR) while attaining smooth and undamaged surfaces. To this end, a novel polishing disk with three-dimensional (3D) microstructures was formed by machining an array of holes on the surface of a polishing disk. The influences of the type of abrasives, geometric parameters of the holes, and polishing time on the roughness and MRR of the machined surface were explored. The test result showed that a polishing disk with multiple holes contributes to a higher MRR and a lower surface roughness relative to a smooth polishing disk, significantly improving the polishing effect; the diameter and distribution of multiple holes on the surface of the polishing disk exhibit a significant effect on the polishing process. The polishing effect with silica sols is most remarkably improved. The solid-state chemical reaction between sapphire and silica sols promotes material removal; relative to a smooth polishing disk, the MRR is increased by 107% and the surface roughness is decreased by 11%. The surface roughness is reduced from Ra 5.14 nm to Ra 0.24 nm by utilising the optimised technological parameters. Under the synergistic action of mechanical removal enhancement of polishing disks with multiple holes and chemical removal of silica sol sapphire can obtain super smooth undamaged surfaces efficiently.

The paper considers the experimentally observed instability of capillary shaping during the growth of thick-walled sapphire tubes by the Stepanov method. The explanation of this phenomenon is based on the theoretical model of radiative-conductive heat transfer in a crystal. An algorithm is developed for the asymptotic expansion of the problem based on the presence of two small parameters. It is shown that the spatial density of the radiation is inhomogeneous along the cross section of the tube and is maximum near its inner walls. This leads to their overheating and the meniscus separation from the inner edges of the shaper.

High-quality AlN/sapphire templates were fabricated by the combination of sputtering and high-temperature (HT) annealing. The influence of sputtering parameters including nitrogen flux, radio frequency power, and substrate temperature on the crystalline quality and surface morphology of annealed AlN films were investigated. With lower substrate temperature, lower power, and lower N2 flux, the full width at half maximum of the X-ray rocking curve for AlN (0002) and (10 2) were improved to 97.2 and 259.2 arcsec after high-temperature annealing. This happens because the increased vacancy concentration of sputtered AlN films can facilitate the annihilation of dislocations by increasing the recovery rate during HT annealing. Step and step-bunching morphologies were clearly observed with optimized sputtering conditions.

Sapphire is used as the base material of high-brightness LED devices, high-speed and high-frequency wireless communication devices, and solar photovoltaic conversion chips. Its surface quality determines the performance of the device. Magnetorheological (MR) finishing can avoid scratches and surface/subsurface damage caused by uneven abrasive particles due to the viscoelasticity of the polishing pad. When MR polishing was used to polish sapphire substrates, the adaptability of the MR fluid components and the rationality of polishing process was the key to quickly obtain high-quality workpiece surface. In this study, sapphire substrates were polished using cluster MR finishing with dynamic magnetic fields formed by multiple synchronous rotation magnetic poles. The components of the MR fluid were optimized by single-factor experiments, and the polishing process parameters were optimized through orthogonal experiment. The results showed that an ultra-smooth surface of Ra 0.27 nm could be obtained when sapphire substrate was polished 8 h by using the optimized MR fluid, which contained 120 nm silica sol with a mass fraction of 8 wt% and W3 carbonyl iron powders with a mass fraction of 16 wt%, also with the optimized process parameters as the machining gap, the workpiece speed, the magnetic pole speed and the rotation speed of the polishing disc were 1 mm, 350 r min−1, 45 r min−1 and 40 r min−1, respectively.

( 2 ˉ 01)-oriented β-Ga2O3 films have been grown on (0001) sapphire substrates using the halide vapor phase epitaxy method. The as-grown β-Ga2O3 films exhibit highly textured with domain-like surface morphologies and the root-mean-square roughness is measured at 6.2 nm using atomic force microscopy. The microstructure characteristics of the β-Ga2O3 film have been investigated comprehensively to understand the origin for the domain-like morphologies. Two in-plane rational domains with mirror-symmetrical atomic arrangement have been identified along the [010] axis of β-Ga2O3 by high resolution transmission electron microscopy, which are caused by the (0001) sapphire substrate symmetry. Various defects, including twinned crystals, inversion domains and domain boundaries etc, have been observed, leading to the rough surfaces and poor crystalline quality of β-Ga2O3 grown on non-angled (0001) sapphire substrate. Schematic diagrams and the oxygen atomic arrangements of β-Ga2O3 on ∼7° off-angled (0001) sapphire substrate toward the 〈11 2 ˉ 0〉 plane were proposed to illustrate the in-plane quasi-epitaxial relationships between the β-Ga2O3(400) film and the sapphire (11 2 ˉ 3) substrate, and to explain the single domain growth mechanism. The results would be helpful for improving the surface morphologies and crystalline quality of heteroepitaxial Ga2O3 films.

Ga2O3, a wide-bandgap semiconductor material, offers a great potential for power and high-voltage electronic devices. We report on the growth of undoped α- and β-phase Ga2O3 using liquid-injection metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (LI-MOCVD) on sapphire substrates. Using the same precursor (gallium acetylacetonate) and deposition temperature of 700 °C, the phase selection was controlled by the sapphire substrate orientation, where the growth of α- and β-phase Ga2O3 was achieved on m- and c-plane surface, respectively. As deduced from x-ray diffraction, α-Ga2O3 films show epitaxial character, while β- Ga2O3 films exhibit highly textured structure. Oxygen flow was also found to have a strong impact on the phase purity of α-Ga2O3 for the flow rates examined. Optical and electrical properties of the layers grown at different oxygen flow rates were also studied systematically. LI-MOCVD growth of α-phase Ga2O3 layers at relatively high deposition temperature widens the high-temperature processing of the Ga2O3-based electronic and optoelectronic devices.

A new type of ferroelectricity, originating from charge order and coupled to magnetism, occurs in YbFe2O4 containing triangular Fe/O double layers, which has recently generated great interest in this material. YbFe2O4 tolerates more than 10% iron deficiency even in bulk single crystals with space group R m. Even though a large number of Fe deficiencies are introduced in the thin film form due to vaporization of Fe ions during deposition at high temperatures, the crystal structure with the space group of R m in the films never changes within the Fe/Yb composition ratio from 1.3 to 2.2. In the previous research, the effects of the Fe/Yb composition ratio—especially in the large Fe deficient area (1.31–1.86)—on the lattice distortion and chemical bonding state of non-stoichiometric (0001)-oriented YbFe2O4 epitaxial thin films on (111) YSZ and (0001) sapphire substrates were examined. The variation of the lattice constant, Raman spectra, and optical absorption coefficient indicated that the existence of the stacking fault and the antisite Yb play an important role in the significant iron deficiency without changing the crystal structure of non-stoichiometric YbFe2O4 thin films.

We report thin high quality n+ type doped N-polar GaN contact layers grown using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition with carrier concentration as high as 3.5×1020 cm-3 and an electron mobility of 80 cm2V-1s-1 at room temperature resulting in a low sheet resistance of 57.3 Ω/ and specific contact resistance of 1.7×10-7 Ωcm2. These results were obtained via silicon doping of (000-1) N-polar GaN grown on 4o miscut sapphire substrates using a flow modulation growth scheme at a deposition temperature of 850 oC.

The lattice vibrations and optical properties of α-Ga2O3 are investigated by polarized Raman scattering and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements at room temperature. Three types of epitaxial α-Ga2O3 film samples were grown on c-plane sapphire substrates by halide vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) in three different growth modes, namely by O2-control, Ga-control, and reference mode. Seven Raman active phonons and three infrared active phonons are determined experimentally for all samples. The relative intensities of Eg(2), Eg(4), and Eg(5) modes in Z(XY)Z Raman spectra varies as a function of growth mode. The growth mode has no obvious effect on the infrared active Eu(2) and Eu(4) modes, while phonon lifetime of the Eu(3) mode drastically changes. For the Eu(3) mode, the O2-control sample exhibits a significantly reduced broadening factor of 7.6 cm-1 compared with that of the reference (10 cm-1), and the Ga-control (16.6 cm-1) samples. All the three types of samples show similar complex ordinary dielectric functions in the spectral range between 0.5 and 6.5 eV indicating no obvious changes within the band structure by changing the growth mode.