High mobility single crystalline ScN and single-orientation epitaxial YN on sapphire via magnetron sputtering

The mechanical, chemical, and electronic properties of the lanthanoid nitrides give this class of materials many potential applications. While ScN research activity has sharply increased recently, investigations of growth methods for optimizing structural and, more importantly, electronic properties are still needed. YN has received some theoretical but very little experimental attention. We present results of x-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy analyses of film structure as well as Hall effect measurements of electronic properties for sputter-deposited ScN and YN. Films are deposited at select values of sputter gas stoichiometry, gas pressure, and substrate temperature, and optimal values are suggested. Additionally, the role of deposition geometry is investigated. Grown under optimal conditions, ScN films are single crystalline and YN films are singly oriented with both nitrides exhibiting the same epitaxial relation to α-Al2O3(11¯02) substrates. Our films also exhibit the highest documented electron mobility for the respective materials, despite their high carrier concentration.