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Effect of thermal annealing on ZnO/AlN/GaN/AlN heterostructure grown on Si substrate by radio frequency sputtering

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Abstract

The influence of high thermal annealing on the surface morphological, structural and optical properties of ZnO/AlN/GaN/AlN layers grown on Si substrate by MBE was investigated. The ZnO thin film was deposited on AlN/GaN/AlN heterostructures by radio frequency (RF) sputtering machine. Thermal annealing at different temperatures (600 °C and 800 °C) was applied to the sample in vacuum tube furnace with the existence of nitrogen flow. The surface morphological, structural and optical properties of samples were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. The ideal thermal annealing temperature is found to be 600 °C, which results in the films having the least amount of dislocation density, based on the findings of the optical and structural evaluation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics and Material Studies, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

    M. Z. Mohd Yusoff

  2. Malaysian Institute of Industrial Technology (MITEC), Persiaran Sinaran Ilmu, Bandar Seri Alam, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, 81750, Johor, Malaysia

    A. Mahyuddin

  3. Institute of Nano-Optoelectronics Research and Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia

    Z. Hassan

  4. Faculty of Ocean Engineering Technology and Informatics, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia

    M. S. Yahya

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  1. M. Z. Mohd Yusoff
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  2. A. Mahyuddin
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  3. Z. Hassan
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  4. M. S. Yahya
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Contributions

MZ carried out the fabrication of ZnO on AlN/GaN/AlN/Si samples, participated in the sequence analysis and drafted the manuscript. AM carried out the structure and optical analysis of AlN/GaN/AlN/Si sample. ZH participated in the design of the study and coordination and helped to draft the manuscript. MSY participated in the structural and optical analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to M. Z. Mohd Yusoff.

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Mohd Yusoff, M.Z., Mahyuddin, A., Hassan, Z. et al. Effect of thermal annealing on ZnO/AlN/GaN/AlN heterostructure grown on Si substrate by radio frequency sputtering. Appl. Phys. A 129, 368 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-023-06635-9

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