Surface preparation of AlN substrates

The Al‐polar surfaces of AlN wafers cut from physical vapor transport grown crystals were lapped and polished. Polishing procedures were developed to produce surfaces for epitaxial growth. The surface scratches and subsurface damage caused by mechanical polishing were removed by a final chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, which yielded a perfect surface ready for epitaxial growth. After CMP the average root mean square surface roughness on a 5 µm × 5 µm area was 0.1 nm. Characterization of the polished surfaces by electron back scatter diffraction and cathodoluminescence showed no subsurface damage. The difference of orientation dependent material removal rate during CMP went up with the increase of the misorientation from (0001) surface. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)