Optical and structural properties of AlN thin films deposited on different faces of sapphire substrates

We report the comprehensive spectroscopic results of AlN thin films deposited on the A-, R- and C-surfaces of sapphire substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The optical and structural properties of the epitaxial-grown AlN films were characterized using various techniques of high-resolution x-ray diffraction spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman scattering spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry and associated analytical tools. Our large number of measurement results clearly show that sapphire substrates of different polarities have effects on the surface roughness, dislocation density, grain size, microstrain, and surface oxygen binding capacity of the film grown on its surface. The results obtained from Ellipsometry measurements show that the thickness, band gap and roughness of AlN films grown on C-plane sapphire are the smallest among the three samples. After careful analyses of the variable temperature Raman spectra, as the temperature rises from 80 K to 800 K, the AlN film has always exhibited tensile stress. In the same temperature range, the tensile stress of the AlN film grown on the C-plane sapphire has the greatest effect with temperature. The lifetime of E-2 (high) phonons gradually decays with the increase of temperature.

Automated summary

The study reports comprehensive spectroscopic analysis of AlN thin films deposited on different surfaces of sapphire substrates, showing that the substrate polarity affects the properties of the films. The AlN film grown on the C-face sapphire has the smallest thickness, band gap, and roughness among the three samples. The temperature-dependent Raman spectra reveal that the AlN film consistently exhibits tensile stress and the effect is most pronounced on the film grown on the C-face sapphire as the temperature increases.