11.5 Post Growth Characterization of Nitride Films - X-Ray Analysis

X-ray Analysis (Ref. 50) was employed to check our GaN films and their quality. A typical scans for wurtzite GaN grown on c-plane sapphire is shown in Figure 45, using Cu K_alpha emission. As can be seen in the figure, GaN grown on c-plane sapphire has the main peak (0002) at 2theta=34.6°, as well as a smaller peak (0004) at 73.0°. GaN grown on a-plane sapphire has 2 dominating peaks, the (0002) peak at 34.6° and another (so far unidentified) peak at 37.8°, as well as a minor (0004) peak. This suggests (see also section on RHEED) that GaN grown on c-plane sapphire keeps its orientation, while GaN grown on a-plane sapphire is c-plane oriented as well. Both X-ray scans compare well with scans in the literature.

X-ray rocking curves were obtained on the 0002 peaks. GaN grown on c-plane sapphire as well as a-plane revealed a Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of better than 20', which was also the resolution limit of the machine used. Therefore those measurements have to be repeated on a high resolution X-ray machine because the original machine is known to have poor X-ray optics and lacks the fine adjustments needed to line up the sample properly. Preparations to do those measurements are currently underway.

Figure 45: X-Ray scan of Wurtzite GaN (Cu K_alpha)


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