title: Interfacial reaction control and its mechanism of AlN epitaxial films grown on Si(111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition.
abstract: High-quality AlN epitaxial films have been grown on Si substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) by effective control of the interfacial reactions between AlN films and Si substrates. The surface morphology, crystalline quality and interfacial property of as-grown AlN/Si hetero-interfaces obtained by PLD have been systemically studied. It is found that the amorphous SiAlN interfacial layer is formed during high temperature growth, which is ascribed to the serious interfacial reactions between Si atoms diffused from the substrates and the AlN plasmas produced by the pulsed laser when ablating the AlN target during the high temperature growth. On the contrary, abrupt and sharp AlN/Si hetero-interfaces can be achieved by effectively controlling the interfacial reactions at suitable growth temperature. The mechanisms for the evolution of interfacial layer from the amorphous SiAlN layer to the abrupt and sharp AlN/Si hetero-interfaces by PLD are hence proposed. This work of obtaining the abrupt interfaces and the flat surfaces for AlN films grown by PLD is of paramount importance for the application of high-quality AlN-based devices on Si substrates.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Wenliang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Weijia
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Zuolian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China [2] Department of Electronic Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Guoqiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li