Abstract
Gallium nitride (GaN)-based devices surpass the traditional silicon-based power devices in terms of higher breakdown voltage, faster-switching speed, higher thermal conductivity, and lower on-resistance. However, heteroepitaxial GaN growths like GaN on sapphire are not suitable for power devices due to the threading dislocation densities as high as 108/cm2. Recently, homoepitaxial GaN growth has become possible thanks to the native GaN substrates with dislocation densities in the order of 104/cm2 but the extremely high cost of the GaN substrates makes the homoepitaxy method unacceptable for industrial applications, and the slicing of wafers for reusing them is an effective solution for cost reduction. In this study, we will investigate a route for slicing the GaN single crystal substrate by controlling the laser pulse energy and changing the distance between each laser shot. The 2D and 3D crack propagations are observed by a multiphoton confocal microscope, and the cross section of samples is observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that two types of radial and lateral cracking occurred depending on the pulse energy and shot pitch, and controlling them was of importance for attaining a smooth GaN substrate slicing. Cross-sectional SEM images showed that at suitable pulse energy and distance, crack propagation could be controlled with respect to the irradiation plane.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A. Lidow, M. de Rooij, J. Strydom, D. Reusch, J. Glaser, GaN Transistors for Efficient Power Conversion (John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2019)
H. Amano, Y. Baines, E. Beam, M. Borga, T. Bouchet, P.R. Chalker, M. Charles, K.J. Chen, N. Chowdhury, R. Chu, C. De Santi, M.M. De Souza, S. Decoutere, L. Di Cioccio, B. Eckardt, T. Egawa, P. Fay, J.J. Freedsman, L. Guido, O. Häberlen, G. Haynes, T. Heckel, D. Hemakumara, P. Houston, J. Hu, M. Hua, Q. Huang, A. Huang, S. Jiang, H. Kawai, D. Kinzer, M. Kuball, A. Kumar, K.B. Lee, X. Li, D. Marcon, M. März, R. McCarthy, G. Meneghesso, M. Meneghini, E. Morvan, A. Nakajima, E.M.S. Narayanan, S. Oliver, T. Palacios, D. Piedra, M. Plissonnier, R. Reddy, M. Sun, I. Thayne, A. Torres, N. Trivellin, V. Unni, M.J. Uren, M. Van Hove, D.J. Wallis, J. Wang, J. Xie, S. Yagi, S. Yang, C. Youtsey, R. Yu, E. Zanoni, S. Zeltner, Y. Zhang, The 2018 GaN power electronics roadmap. J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 51(16), 163001 (2018)
J. Derluyn, M. Germain, E. Meissner, Gallium Nitride-Enabled High Frequency and High Efficiency Power Conversion (Springer, 2018)
M. Amilusik, T. Sochacki, B. Łucznik, M. Boćkowski, B. Sadovyi, A. Presz, I. Dzięcielewski, I. Grzegory, Analysis of self-lift-off process during HVPE growth of GaN on MOCVD-GaN/sapphire substrates with photolitographically patterned Ti mask. J. Cryst. Growth 380, 99–105 (2013)
F. Lipski, T. Wunderer, S. Schwaiger, F. Scholz, “Fabrication of freestanding 2″ GaN wafers by hydride vapour phase epitaxy and self-separation during cooldown.” Physica Stat. Solidi (a) 207(6), 1287–1291 (2010)
Ch. Hennig, E. Richter, M. Weyers, G. Tränkle, Freestanding 2-in GaN layers using lateral overgrowth with HVPE. J. Cryst. Growth 310(5), 911–915 (2008)
D. Gogova, A. Kasic, H. Larsson, C. Hemmingsson, B. Monemar, F. Tuomisto, K. Saarinen, L. Dobos, B. Pécz, P. Gibart, B. Beaumont, Strain-free bulk-like GaN grown by hydride-vapor-phase-epitaxy on two-step epitaxial lateral overgrown GaN template. J. Appl. Phys. 96(1), 799–806 (2004)
A.D. Williams, T.D. Moustakas, Formation of large-area freestanding gallium nitride substrates by natural stress-induced separation of GaN and sapphire. J. Cryst. Growth 300(1), 37–41 (2007)
K. Yamane, M. Ueno, H. Furuya, N. Okada, K. Tadatomo, Successful natural stress-induced separation of hydride vapor phase epitaxy-grown GaN layers on sapphire substrates. J. Cryst. Growth 358, 1–4 (2012)
S.W. Bedell, C. Bayram, K. Fogel, P. Lauro, J. Kiser, J. Ott, Y. Zhu, D. Sadana, Vertical light-emitting diode fabrication by controlled spalling. Appl. Phys. Express 6(11), 112301 (2013)
D.J. Rogers, F.H. Teherani, A. Ougazzaden, S. Gautier, L. Divay, A. Lusson, O. Durand, F. Wyczisk, G. Garry, T. Monteiro, M.R. Correira, M. Peres, A. Neves, D. McGrouther, J.N. Chapman, M. Razeghi, Use of ZnO thin films as sacrificial templates for metal organic vapor phase epitaxy and chemical lift-off of GaN. Appl. Phys. Lett. 91(7), 071120 (2007)
J. Ha, S.W. Lee, H. Lee, H. Lee, S.H. Lee, H. Goto, T. Kato, K. Fujii, M.W. Cho, T. Yao, The fabrication of vertical light-emitting diodes using chemical lift-off process. IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett. 20(3), 175–177 (2008)
T.-Y. Tsai, R.-H. Horng, D.-S. Wuu, S.-L. Ou, M.-T. Hung, H.-H. Hsueh, GaN epilayer grown on Ga2O3 sacrificial layer for chemical lift-off application. Electrochem. Solid-State Lett. 14(11), H434 (2011)
C.-F. Lin, J.-J. Dai, M.-S. Lin, K.-T. Chen, W.-C. Huang, C.-M. Lin, R.-H. Jiang, Y.-C. Huang, An AlN sacrificial buffer layer inserted into the GaN/patterned sapphire substrate for a chemical lift-off process. Appl. Phys. Express 3(3), 031001 (2010)
D.J. Meyer, B.P. Downey, D.S. Katzer, N. Nepal, V.D. Wheeler, M.T. Hardy, T.J. Anderson, D.F. Storm, Epitaxial lift-off and transfer of III-N materials and devices from SiC substrates. IEEE Trans. Semicond. Manuf. 29(4), 384–389 (2016)
Yu. Melnik, A. Nikolaev, I. Nikitina, K. Vassllevski, V. Dmitriev, Properties of free-standing GaN bulk crystals grown by HVPE. MRS Online Proc. Libr. 482(1), 346–351 (1997)
M. Lesecq, V. Hoel, A.L. des Etangs-Levallois, E. Pichonat, Y. Douvry, J.C. De Jaeger, High performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs reported on adhesive flexible tape. IEEE Elect. Device Lett. 32(2), 143–145 (2011)
M. Lee, D. Mikulik, J. Kim, Y. Tak, J. Kim, M. Shim, Y. Park, U. Chung, E. Yoon, S. Park, A novel growth method of freestanding GaN using in situ removal of Si substrate in hydride vapor phase epitaxy. Appl. Phys. Express 6(12), 125502 (2013)
J. Kim, C. Bayram, H. Park, C.-W. Cheng, C. Dimitrakopoulos, J.A. Ott, K.B. Reuter, S.W. Bedell, D.K. Sadana, Principle of direct van der Waals epitaxy of single-crystalline films on epitaxial graphene. Nat. Commun. 5(1), 4836 (2014)
M.K. Kelly, O. Ambacher, R. Dimitrov, R. Handschuh, M. Stutzmann, Optical process for liftoff of group III-nitride films. Phys. Stat. Solidi (a) 159(1), R3–R4 (1997)
C. Youtsey, R. McCarthy, R. Reddy, K. Forghani, A. Xie, E. Beam, J. Wang, P. Fay, T. Ciarkowski, E. Carlson, L. Guido, Wafer-scale epitaxial lift-off of GaN using bandgap-selective photoenhanced wet etching. Phys. Stat. Solidi (b) 254(8), 1600774 (2017)
C.-Y. Lee, Y.-P. Lan, P.-M. Tu, S.-C. Hsu, C.-C. Lin, H.-C. Kuo, G.-C. Chi, C.-Y. Chang, Natural substrate lift-off technique for vertical light-emitting diodes. Appl. Phys. Express 7(4), 042103 (2014)
Y.-H. Yeh, K.-M. Chen, Y.-H. Wu, Y.-C. Hsu, T.-Y. Yu, W.-I. Lee, Hydrogen etching of GaN and its application to produce free-standing GaN thick films. J. Cryst. Growth 333(1), 16–19 (2011)
S.W. Bedell, P. Lauro, J.A. Ott, K. Fogel, D.K. Sadana, Layer transfer of bulk gallium nitride by controlled spalling. J. Appl. Phys. 122(2), 025103 (2017)
D. Iida, S. Kawai, N. Ema, T. Tsuchiya, M. Iwaya, T. Takeuchi, S. Kamiyama, I. Akasaki, Laser lift-off technique for freestanding GaN substrate using an In droplet formed by thermal decomposition of GaInN and its application to light-emitting diodes. Appl. Phys. Lett. 105(7), 072101 (2014)
A. Tauzin, T. Akatsu, M. Rabarot, J. Dechamp, M. Zussy, H. Moriceau, J.F. Michaud, A.M. Charvet, L.D. Cioccio, F. Fournel, J. Garrione, B. Faure, F. Letertre, N. Kernevez, Transfers of 2-inch GaN films onto sapphire substrates using smart cuttm technology. Elec. Lett. 41(11), 668–670 (2005)
O. Moutanabbir, U. Gösele, Bulk GaN ion cleaving. J. Electron. Mater. 39(5), 482–488 (2010)
R.B.-K. Chung, D. Kim, S.-K. Lim, J.-S. Choi, K.-J. Kim, B.-H. Lee, K.S. Jung, H.-J. Kim-Lee, W.J. Lee, B. Park, K. Woo, Layer-transferred GaN template by ion cut for nitride-based light-emitting diodes. Appl. Phys. Express 6(11), 111005 (2013)
K. Huang, T. You, Q. Jia, A. Yi, S. Zhang, R. Zhang, J. Lin, M. Zhou, W. Yu, B. Zhang, X. Ou, X. Wang, Defects induced by MeV H+ implantation for exfoliating of free-standing GaN film. Appl. Phys. A 124(2), 118 (2018)
V. Voronenkov, N. Bochkareva, R. Gorbunov, A. Zubrilov, V. Kogotkov, P. Latyshev, Y. Lelikov, A. Leonidov, Y. Shreter, Laser slicing: a thin film lift-off method for GaN-on-GaN technology. Results Phys. 13, 102233 (2019)
N.M. Bulgakova, V.P. Zhukov, Lasers in Materials Science (Springer, 2014), p. 191
I.M. Burakov, N.M. Bulgakova, R. Stoian, A. Rosenfeld, I.V. Hertel, Theoretical investigations of material modification using temporally shaped femtosecond laser pulses. Appl. Phys. A 81(8), 1639–1645 (2005)
Y. Okamoto, M. Ota, A. Okada, Investigation of separation method for gallium nitride with internal modified layer by ultrashort pulsed laser. Int. J. Electr. Mach. 24, 21–26 (2019)
O. Krüger, J.-H. Kang, M. Spevak, U. Zeimer, S. Einfeldt, Precision UV laser scribing for cleaving mirror facets of GaN-based laser diodes. Appl. Phys. A 122(4), 396 (2016)
M.V. Virko, V.S. Kogotkov, A.A. Leonidov, V.V. Voronenkov, Yu.T. Rebane, A.S. Zubrilov, R.I. Gorbunov, P.E. Latyshev, N.I. Bochkareva, Yu.S. Lelikov, D.V. Tarhin, A.N. Smirnov, VYu. Davydov, Yu.G. Shreter, On the laser detachment of n-GaN films from substrates, based on the strong absorption of IR light by free charge carriers in n+-GaN substrates. Semiconductors 50(5), 699–704 (2016)
S. Kanehira, K. Miura, K. Fujita, K. Hirao, J. Si, N. Shibata, Y. Ikuhara, Optically produced cross patterning based on local dislocations inside MgO single crystals. Appl. Phys. Lett. 90(16), 163110 (2007)
M. Sakakura, Y. Ishiguro, N. Fukuda, Y. Shimotsuma, K. Miura, Modulation of laser induced-cracks inside a LiF single crystal by fs laser irradiation at multiple points. Opt. Express 21(22), 26921–26928 (2013)
L. Rapp, R. Meyer, L. Furfaro, C. Billet, R. Giust, F. Courvoisier, High speed cleaving of crystals with ultrafast bessel beams. Opt. Express 25(8), 9312–9317 (2017)
E.R. Dobrovinskaya, L.A. Lytvynov, V. Pishchik, Sapphire: Material, Manufacturing, Applications (Springer, 2009)
P.B. Hirsch, P. Pirouz, S.G. Roberts, P.D. Warren, Indentation plasticity and polarity of hardness on {111} faces of GaAs. Philos. Mag. B 52(3), 759–784 (1985)
I. Ratschinski, H.S. Leipner, F. Heyroth, W. Fränzel, O. Moutanabbir, R. Hammer, M. Jurisch, Indentation-induced dislocations and cracks in (0001) freestanding and epitaxial GaN. J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 281, 012007 (2011)
Funding
Part of this research was conducted under a contract of R&D for expansion of radio wave resources (JPJ000254), organized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted.
Data availability
Data underlying the results presented in this paper are not publicly available at this time but may be obtained from the authors upon reasonable request.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sena, H., Tanaka, A., Wani, Y. et al. Gallium nitride wafer slicing by a sub-nanosecond laser: effect of pulse energy and laser shot spacing. Appl. Phys. A 127, 648 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-04808-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-04808-y