Selective area growth of cubic gallium nitride on silicon (001) and 3C-silicon carbide (001)

Abstract

Selective area growth of cubic gallium nitride is investigated in a plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy setup. 380 μm thick silicon (001) and 10 μm thick 3C-silicon carbide (001), grown on 500 μm silicon (001), were used as substrates and structured with silicon dioxide masks. Selective area growth on silicon and 3C-silicon carbide was tested for both thermal and plasma deposited oxides. Multiple growth series showed that gallium nitride coverage of silicon dioxide vanished at growth temperatures of 870 °C for silicon substrates and at a surface temperature of 930 °C for 3C-silicon carbide substrates. Whereas gallium nitride is grown in its hexagonal form on silicon substrates, phase pure cubic gallium nitride could selectively be grown on the 3C-silicon carbide template. The cubic phase is verified by high resolution x-ray diffraction and low temperature photoluminescence measurements. The photoluminescence measurements prove that gallium nitride condensed selectively on the 3C-silicon carbide surfaces uncovered by silicon dioxide.