Improvement in a-plane GaN crystalline quality using wet etching method

Nonpolar （1120） GaN films are grown on the etched a-plane GaN substrates via metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. High-resolution X-ray diffraction analysis shows great decreases in the full width at half maximum of the samples grown on etched substrates compared with those of the sample without etching, both on-axis and off-axis, indicating the reduced dislocation densities and improved crystalline quality of these samples. The spatial mapping of the E2 （high） phonon mode demonstrates the smaller line width with a black background in the wing region, which testifies the reduced dislocation densities and enhanced crystalline quality of the epitaxial lateral overgrowth areas. Raman scattering spectra of the E2 （high） peaks exhibit in-plane compressive stress for all the overgrowth samples, and the E2 （high） peaks of samples grown on etched substrates shift toward the lower frequency range, indicating the relaxations of in-plane stress in these GaN films. Furthermore, room temperature photoluminescence measurement demonstrates a significant decrease in the yellow-band emission intensity of a-plane GaN grown on etched templates, which also illustrates the better optical properties of these samples.

Step-edge-guided nucleation and growth mode transition of α-Ga_(2)O_(3) heteroepitaxy on vicinal sapphire

Controlling the epitaxial growth mode of semiconductor layers is crucial for optimizing material properties and device performance.In this work,the growth mode ofα-Ga_(2)O_(3) heteroepitaxial layers was modulated by tuning miscut angles(θ)from 0°to 7°off the(1010)direction of sapphire(0002)substrate.On flat sapphire surfaces,the growth undergoes a typical three-dimensional(3D)growth mode due to the random nucleation on wide substrate terraces,as evidenced by the hillock morphology and high dislocation densities.As the miscut angle increases toθ=5°,the terrace width of sapphire substrate is comparable to the distance between neighboring nuclei,and consequently,the nucleation is guided by terrace edges,which energetically facilitates the growth mode transition into the desirable two-dimensional(2D)coherent growth.Consequently,the mean surface roughness decreases to only 0.62 nm,accompanied by a significant reduction in screw and edge dislocations to 0.16×10^(7) cm^(-2)and 3.58×10^(9) cm^(-2),respectively.However,the further increment of miscut angles toθ=7°shrink the terrace width less than nucleation distance,and the step-bunching growth mode is dominant.In this circumstance,the misfit strain is released in the initial growth stage,resulting in surface morphology degradation and increased dislocation densities.

Morphology and crystalline property of an AlN single crystal grown on AlN seed

AlN single crystal grown by physical vapor transport (PVT) using homogeneous seed is considered as the most promising approach to obtain high-quality AlN boule.In this work,the morphology of AlN single crystals grown under different modes (3D islands and single spiral center) were investigated.It is proved that,within an optimized thermal distribution chamber system,the surface temperature of AlN seed plays an important role in crystal growth,revealing a direct relationship between growth mode and growth condition.Notably,a high-quality AlN crystal,with (002) and (102) reflection peaks of 65and 36 arcsec at full width at half maximum (FWHM),was obtained grown under a single spiral center mode.And on which,a high-quality Al_x Ga_(1–x) N epitaxial layer with high Al content (x=0.54) was also obtained.The FWHMs of (002) and (102) reflection of Al_x Ga_(1–x) N were 202 and 496 arcsec,respectively,which shows superiority over their counterpart grown on SiC or a sapphire substrate.

Impact of nitrogen doping on growth and hydrogen impurity incorporation of thick nanocrystalline diamond films

A much larger amount of bonded hydrogen was found in thick nanocrystalline diamond （NCD） films produced by only adding 0.24% N2 into 4% CH4/H2 plasma, as compared to the high quality transparent microcrystalline diamond （MCD） films, grown using the same growth parameters except for nitrogen. These experimental results clearly evidence that defect formation and impurity incorporation （for example, N and H） impeding diamond grain growth is the main formation mechanism of NCD upon nitrogen doping and strongly support the model proposed in the literature that nitrogen competes with CHx （x = 1, 2, 3） growth species for adsorption sites.

Growth and characteristics of InAsSb epilayers with a cutoff wavelength of 4.8 μm prepared by one-step liquid phase epitaxy

InAsSb epilayers with a cutoff wavelength of 4.8 μm have been successfully grown on InAs substrates by one-step liquid phase epitaxy （LPE） technology. The epilayers were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Fourier transform infrared （PTIR） transmittance measurements and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The influence of different growth conditions on the optical and structural properties of the materials was studied. The results revealed that the good crystalline quality, mirror smooth surface and flat interface of InAsSb epilayers were achieved. They benefited from optimized growth conditions, i.e., sufficient homogeneity of the growth melt and a very slow cooling rate.

Preparation and infrared emissivities of alkali metal doped ZnO powders

Alkali metal(Li, Na, K) doped ZnO powders were synthesized by solid-state reaction at different calcination temperatures and holding time. Effects of holding time and K sources on the infrared emissivity of ZnO were investigated. The structure and surface morphologies of samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The UV-Vis absorption and infrared emissivities were investigated by a UV-Vis spectrophotometer and an infrared emissometer, respectively. XRD patterns confirm the wurtzite structure of the as prepared samples with single phase. Smooth grain surfaces are detected in all doped ZnO samples, while ZnO:Li and ZnO:Na present the aggregation of grains. The redshifts in the optical band-gap are observed in K-, Na-, and Li-doped ZnO with the values 3.150, 3.144, and 3.142 eV. Due to better crystalline quality, ZnO:K shows a lower emissivity than others. The emissivity of K-doped ZnO decreases to the minimum value(0.804), at 1200 °C and holding 2 h. Compared with KNO3 as K source, K2CO3 doped ZnO has lower emissivities.

Growth and characterization of AlN epilayers using pulsed metal organic chemical vapor deposition

We report the growth of Al N epilayers on c-plane sapphire substrates by pulsed metal organic chemical vapor deposition（MOCVD）. The sources of trimethylaluminium（TMAl） and ammonia were pulse introduced into the reactor to avoid the occurrence of the parasitic reaction. Through adjusting the duty cycle ratio of TMAl to ammonia from 0.8 to 3.0, the growth rate of Al N epilayers could be controlled in the range of 0.24 m/h to 0.93 m/h. The high-resolution x-ray diffraction（HRXRD） measurement showed that the full width at half maximum（FWHM） of the（0002） and（10-12） reflections for a sample would be 194 arcsec and 421 arcsec, respectively. The step-flow growth mode was observed in the sample with the atomic level flat surface steps, in which a root-mean-square（RMS） roughness was lower to 0.2 nm as tested by atomic force microscope（AFM）. The growth process of Al N epilayers was discussed in terms of crystalline quality, surface morphology,and residual stress.

Effectively Inhibit Phase Separation to Improve Efficiency and Stability of All-Inorganic Planar CsPbIBr2 Perovskite Solar Cells

The advancement in a power conversion efficiency(PCE)to reach 25%,the inorganic perovskites are being explored intensively as promising optoelectronic materials due to their excellent photovoltaic performance,i.e.,thermal stability and efficiency.Lately,the inorganic cesium lead halide perovskite is studied to show enhanced light absorption,however,it suffers from the phase separate into I-rich and Br-rich phase which leads to poor film quality due to difference of electronegativity.Herein,we propose a unique solution of controlling the rate of solvent volatilization followed by gel method to inhibit phase separation effectively to obtain the homogenous and pinhole-free CsPbIBr2 films with high crystalline quality.In this study,an inverted planar device based on a light absorber of CsPbIBr2 is prepared to achieve a power conversion efficiency of 8.8%(maintain a stabilized value of 8%in ambient air conditions).Surprisingly,the optimized cell without encapsulation shows excellent long-term stability,as it maintained 90%initial efficiency over 500 h and controlled storage at around 45%relative humidity and 25℃.

Properties of Resistivity, Reflection and Absorption Related to Structure of ITO Films

Indium tin oxide （ITO） films were fabricated on polyethylene terephthalate （PET） substrate at room temperature using dc magnetron sputtering technique with different sputtering powers. The structural, electrical and optical properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Hall effect, reflection and transmission, respectively. XRD patterns show gradual enhancement of crystalline quality with increasing sputtering power. Significant improvement of Hall mobility due to the reduction of defects was observed though the carrier density varied slightly. Simultaneously, the mean transmission in visible light range decreased severely with increasing sputtering power. Slight move toward shorter-wavelength side of absorption peak was due to the variation of plasma wavelength. The reflection increase of near-infrared light originated from the decrease of resistivity. Finally, band gap was obtained using Tauc＇s relation and it was consistent with Burstein-Moss shift.