Epitaxial growth of cubic GaN and AlN on Si(001)

Abstract
Thermal treatment under propane at 1300-1400 °C has been used to prepare Silicon (001) wafers for subsequent growth of cubic GaN and AlN by Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy (ECRMBE). Thermal treatment of Silicon wafers under propane, used in this experiment, produced a very thin (40 Å) layer of cubic SiC on the Silicon (001) surface. Despite an extremely low thickness of as-produced SiC layer, high quality cubic GaN has been successfully grown. The cubic form of AlN grown on the SiC(40Å)/Si(001) surface has also been observed despite a very high density of stacking faults.
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