Molecular Beam Epitaxy of Group-III Nitrides on Silicon Substrates: Growth, Properties and Device Applications

Abstract

We report on the growth and properties of GaN films grown on Si(111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy using ammonia. The properties of the layers show that our growth procedure is very efficient in order to overcome the difficulties encountered during the growth of nitrides on silicon substrates: first, no nitridation of the silicon substrate is observed at the interface between the AlN buffer layer and the silicon surface; second, there is no Si autodoping coming from the substrate and resistive undoped GaN layers are obtained; and, also, strain balance engineering allows one to grow thick GaN epilayers (up to 3 μm) without formation of cracks. The optical, structural and electrical properties of these films are studied. In order to evaluate the potentialities of III–V nitrides grown on silicon substrates, we have grown heterostructures to realize light emitting diodes (LEDs), photodetectors and high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs).