Temperature effect on the quality of AlN thin films

Abstract

AlN thin films were deposited at various substrate temperatures via Plasma Source Molecular Beam Epitaxy. The films were grown on 6H-SiC (0001) substrates. Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction and Atomic Force Microscopy showed a dramatic change in the surface morphology of the film grown at 640°C. This is attributed to a change in the growth mechanism from pseudomorphic at lower temperatures to three-dimensional at higher than 640°C temperatures. Photoreflectance measurements showed an absorption shift toward 200 nm as the deposition temperature increases which is attributed to the change in the growth mechanism at higher temperatures. X-Ray Diffraction was unable to conclusively determine the AlN (0002) peak due to a significant diffuse intensity from the SiC (0002) peak. A MIS structure was created by depositing Pt contacts on the film grown at 500°C. I-V measurements showed that the Pt/AlN contact is Schottky.