Low-temperature and ammonia-free epitaxy of GaN/AlGaN/GaN heterostructure

Wide band gap semiconductors are very attractive because of their broad applications as electronics and optoelectronics materials − GaN-based materials being by far the most promising. For the production of such nitride-based optical and power devices, metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) is routinely used. However, this has disadvantages, such as the large consumption of ammonia gas, and the need for high growth temperature. To go beyond such a limit, in this study we successfully developed a remote plasma assisted MOCVD (RPA-MOCVD) approach for the epitaxial growth of high-quality GaN/AlGaN heterostructures on 4H-SiC substrates. Our RPA-MOCVD has the advantages of lower growth temperature (750 °C) compared to conventional MOCVD route, and the use of a remote N2/H2 plasma instead of ammonia for nitrides growth, generating in situ the NHx (x = 0−3) species needed for the growth. As assessed by structural, morphological, optical and electrical characterisation, the proposed strategy provides an overall cost-effective and green approach for high-quality GaN/AlGaN heteroepitaxy, suitable for high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) technology.