MOCVD of BN and GaN thin films on silicon: new attempt of GaN growth with BN buffer layer

Highly oriented polycrystalline h-BN thin films were deposited on silicon substrates in the temperature range of 600–900°C from the single molecular precursor of borane–triethylamine complex, (C2H5)3N : BH3, by supersonic jet assisted chemical vapor deposition. Hydrogen was used as carrier gas, and additional nitrogen was supplied by either ammonia through a nozzle or nitrogen via a remote microwave plasma. Hexagonal GaN films were also grown on Si(1 0 0) with h-BN buffer layers at temperatures between 550 and 750°C with dual supersonic molecular beam sources. Triethylgallium, (C2H5)3Ga, and ammonia, NH3, were used as precursors. Hydrogen was used as seeding gas for the precursors, providing a wide range of possible kinetic energies for the supersonic beams. The h-BN buffer layers and the GaN films were characterized in situ by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and ex situ by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and optical transmission. This is the first report of growing the h-BN films on silicon substrates from the single source precursor of borane-triethylamine complex and new attempts of GaN film growth on silicon with BN buffer layer.