Open AccessEffect of methane additive on GaN growth using the OVPE method
Author(s) -
Akira Kitamoto,
Junichi Takino,
Tetsuya Sumi,
Masahiro Kamiyama,
Shintaro Tsuno,
Keiju Ishibashi,
Yoshikazu Gunji,
Masayuki Imanishi,
Yoshio Okayama,
Masaki Nobuoka,
Masashi Isemura,
Masashi Yoshimura,
Yusuke Mori
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
japanese journal of applied physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.487
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1347-4065
pISSN - 0021-4922
DOI - 10.7567/1347-4065/ab0d08
Subject(s) - partial pressure , growth rate , methane , materials science , epitaxy , volumetric flow rate , oxide , analytical chemistry (journal) , crystal growth , partial oxidation , chemical engineering , chemistry , crystallography , nanotechnology , oxygen , layer (electronics) , thermodynamics , metallurgy , organic chemistry , geometry , mathematics , physics , engineering
The oxide vapor phase epitaxy method is expected to be a useful technique for bulk GaN growth, because it allows long-term growth without producing a solid byproduct. However, thick GaN crystals have not been realized due to the growth inhibition caused by polycrystal formation resulting from high H 2 O partial pressure. In this study, we formed GaN crystals with CH 4 gas to decrease the H 2 O partial pressure in a growth zone by the reaction of CH 4 with H 2 O to produce CO and H 2 . As a result, H 2 O partial pressure decreased with increasing CH 4 flow rate, and GaN layers could be grown without decrease of growth rate or degradation of the crystalline qualities at a flow rate of 50–100 sccm of CH 4 gas. Furthermore, we obtained high crystalline 400-um thick GaN crystals after a growth period of 10 h.