X-ray diffraction study of cubic-phase AlN thin films grown on sapphire(0001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

Cubic-phase AlN thin films were fabricated on sapphire(0001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition at an extremely high-pressure ambient nitrogen. The crystallographic properties of the films were evaluated using X-ray diffraction techniques. The θ-2θ measurements showed diffraction peaks originating from different c-AlN structure between the films grown in the nitrogen atmosphere at 30 Torr and 80 Torr, which implied that the structural phase of c-AlN films was sensitive to the pressure of the ambient nitrogen. We investigated the details of the AlN 11̄1 diffraction spots from the films at 80 Torr and revealed that the films were epitaxially grown on the substrates with the relationship ofc-AlN(111)[12̄1]//Al2O 3(0001)[112̄0]. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.