AlN thin film grown on different substrates by hydride vapor phase epitaxy

AlN thin films have been grown on GaN/sapphire templates, 6 H-SiC and sapphire by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. The influence of growth conditions and substrates on the crystal qualities and growth mode has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed that the low pressure was favorable for high-quality AlN thin film growth around 1000 °C. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of (0002) XRD of 200-nm AlN thin film grown on GaN/sapphire, 6 H-SiC and sapphire are 220, 187 and 260 arc s, respectively. While the corresponding counterparts of (10-12) are 1300, 662 and 2650 arc s, respectively. Both suggested that low dislocation density in AlN grown on 6 H-SiC. The morphology of AlN thin film on sapphire showed islands without coalescence initially, and then changed to be coalescent with atomic steps at 1200 nm. However, those for samples on 6 H-SiC and GaN/sapphire showed smooth surface with clear atomic steps at thickness of 200 nm. The result indicated different growth modes of AlN on different substrates. It was believed that the different lattice mismatchs between AlN and substrates led to the different crystal qualities and growth modes.