Obtaining Niobium Nitride on n-GaN by Surface Mediated Nitridation Technique

In this work the n-GaN(1000) surface is used as a source of nitrogen atoms in order to obtain niobium nitride film by a surface-mediated nitridation technique. To this end, the physical vapor deposition of the niobium film on GaN is followed by sample annealing at 1123 K. A thermally induced decomposition of GaN and interfacial mixing phenomena lead to the formation of a niobium nitride compound, which contains Nb from thin film and N atoms from the substrate. The processes allowed the obtaining of ordered NbNx films on GaN. Structural and chemical properties of both the GaN substrate and NbNx films were studied in-situ by surface-sensitive techniques, i.e., X-ray and UV photoelectron spectroscopies (XPS/UPS) and a low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). Then, the NbNx/GaN surface morphology was investigated ex-situ by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM).

Automated summary

In this work, a niobium nitride film was obtained using n-GaN(1000) surface as the source of nitrogen atoms through a surface-mediated nitridation technique. The deposition of niobium film on GaN followed by sample annealing resulted in the formation of a niobium nitride compound containing Nb from the thin film and N atoms from the substrate. The structural, chemical, and surface properties of both the GaN substrate and NbNx films were studied using in-situ techniques.