Epitaxial growth of β-Si3N4 by the nitridation of Si with adsorbed N atoms for interface reaction epitaxy of double buffer AlN(0001)/β-Si3N4/Si(111)

A fabrication process of an interface reaction epitaxy (IRE) beta-Si3N4 and an IRE AlN were investigated to produce a double buffer layer (DBL) of AlN(0001)/beta-Si3N4/Si(111) for the growth of group III nitrides films on Si. The beta-Si3N4 was formed by using adsorbed (ADS) nitrogen atoms irradiated indirectly from a rf-plasma cell. Two surface structures of the beta-Si3N4, which were "8 x 8" and "8/3 x 8/3" reconstructions, were fabricated by changing the nitrogen irradiation conditions; complete and incomplete nitridation of Si surface and successive heat treatment up to 875 degrees C formed the "8 x 8" and "8/3 x 8/3" structures, respectively. IRE AlN was grown by 1 monolayer of Al deposition on the beta-Si3N4 and successive annealing at 875 degrees C. Al and N polarity DBLs were grown on the "8 x 8" and "8/3 x 8/3" structures, respectively. These results indicated that the polarity of DBL could be controlled by the surface reconstruction of beta-Si3N4. (C) 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim