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FIB micro-milled sapphire for GaN maskless epitaxial lateral overgrowth: a systematic study on patterning geometry

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Abstract

A systematic study of the GaN epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) of the focused ion beam (FIB) patterned sapphire substrate is presented. The FIB technology with its atom at a time removal principle is a flexible and high-resolution maskless processing technique, unique to fabricate trenches of the highest quality without surface damage, debris, and cracks, therefore, best suited to investigate the improvement of the maskless GaN ELO on the patterned sapphire. Arrays of the square (size varying from 1 × 1 μm2 to 5 × 5 μm2) and rectangular (size varying from 20 × 1 μm2 to 20 × 5 μm2) trenches with the inter-trench distance varying from 1 to 5 μm, aligned parallel/perpendicular to sapphire \(\langle \)11\(\overline{2}\)0\(\rangle \) direction were overgrown and investigated structurally and electrically using Raman scattering, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and electron beam induced current (EBIC). To find out the optimized ELO of the array, the threading dislocation density and the remaining strain in the ELO epilayer was analyzed. The epilayer improvement was demonstrated in a correlation between the trench size, the array geometry (the trench shape and inter-trench distance), and the epilayer thickness. A homogeneous overgrowth of the entire array was observed for the arrays of the largest trenches and the reduced inter-trench distance.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the European Regional Development Fund according to the supported activity ”Research Projects Implemented by World-class Researcher Groups” under Measure No. 01.2.2-LMT-K-718 (Project code 01.2.2-LMT-K-718-01-0018). This work was done in the frame of the Vilnius University scientific program ”Perspective semiconductor structures for optoelectronics: development, investigation, and application”. The authors would like to thank Dr. D.Paipulas for laser microfabrication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnology, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio 3, 10257, Vilnius, Lithuania

    E. Jelmakas, A. Kadys, M. Dmukauskas, T. Grinys, R. Tomašiūnas & D. Dobrovolskas

  2. Centre for Micro-Photonics, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122, Australia

    G. Gervinskas & S. Juodkazis

  3. Institute of Biochemistry, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio 7, 10257, Vilnius, Lithuania

    M. Talaikis & G. Niaura

  4. Department of Organic Chemistry, Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Saulėtekio 3, 10257, Vilnius, Lithuania

    M. Talaikis & G. Niaura

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  1. E. Jelmakas
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Jelmakas, E., Kadys, A., Dmukauskas, M. et al. FIB micro-milled sapphire for GaN maskless epitaxial lateral overgrowth: a systematic study on patterning geometry. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 14532–14541 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-06010-5

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