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AlN epitaxy on SiC by low-temperature atomic layer deposition via layer-by-layer, in situ atomic layer annealing.
- Source :
-
RSC advances [RSC Adv] 2019 Apr 17; Vol. 9 (22), pp. 12226-12231. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Apr 17 (Print Publication: 2019). - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- AlN thin films were epitaxially grown on a 4H-SiC substrate via atomic layer deposition (ALD) along with atomic layer annealing (ALA). By applying the layer-by-layer, in situ ALA treatment using helium/argon plasma in each ALD cycle, the as-deposited film gets crystallization energy from the plasma, which results in significant enhancement of the crystal quality to achieve a highly crystalline AlN epitaxial layer at a deposition temperature as low as 300 °C. In a nanoscale AlN epitaxial layer with a thickness of ∼30 nm, X-ray diffraction reveals a low full-width-at-half-maximum of the AlN (0002) peak of only 176.4 arcsec. Atomic force microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier diffractograms indicate a smooth surface and high-quality hetero-epitaxial growth of a nanoscale AlN layer on 4H-SiC. This research demonstrates the impact of the ALA treatment on the evolution of ALD techniques from conventional thin film deposition to low-temperature atomic layer epitaxy.<br />Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare.<br /> (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2046-2069
- Volume :
- 9
- Issue :
- 22
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- RSC advances
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 35515870
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ra00008a