Valence band discontinuity, surface reconstruction, and chemistry of (0001), (0001), and (1100) 2H–AlN/6H–SiC interfaces

A detailed examination of the valence band discontinuity (ΔEv) formed at the (0001), (0001̄), and (11̄00) interfaces between 2H–AlN and 6H–SiC has been conducted using x-ray and UV photoelectron spectroscopies. The ΔEv was observed to range from 0.6–2.0 eV depending on the growth direction (i.e., AlN on SiC vs SiC on AlN), as well as the crystallographic orientation, cut of the SiC substrate (i.e., on versus off axis), and SiC surface reconstruction and stoichiometry. A ΔEv of 1.4–1.5 eV was observed for AlN grown on (3×3) (0001)Si6H–SiC on-axis substrates; a ΔEv of 0.9–1.0 eV was observed for off-axis substrates with the same surface reconstruction. The values of ΔEv for AlN grown on (√3×√3)R30°(0001) 6H–SiC on-and-off-axis substrates were 1.1–1.2 eV. A larger valence band discontinuity of 1.9–2.0 eV was determined for 3C–SiC grown on (0001) 2H–AlN. Smaller values of ΔEv of 0.6–0.7 and 0.8–0.9 eV were observed for AlN grown on on-axis (0001̄)C and (11̄00)6H–SiC substrates, respectively.