Control of AlN buffer/sapphire substrate interface for AlN growth

The growth condition of AlN buffer layer has been studied in order to fabricate a high‐quality AlN layer on a sapphire substrate. The growth of high‐quality AlN is extremely difficult due to the weak surface migration of Al adatoms. Therefore we have focused on the AlN buffer layer, and examined the growth condition while controlling the thickness and growth temperature. The crystalline quality of the AlN layer grown on an AlN buffer layer at a growth temperature of 1250 °C was improved, and the full width at half‐maximum (FWHM) value of the X‐ray rocking curve (XRC) obtained for (0002) and (10‐10) diffractions were 138 and 464 arcsec, respectively. Moreover, AlO x N 1‐x was formed when the AlN buffer layer was grown at a high temperature (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)