Growth of semi-polar (101̄3) AlN films on the silicon

Highly semi-polar (101̅3) oriented and fine structural AlN films were successfully prepared on silicon substrate by rf magnetron sputtering in this research. The dependence of the nitrogen concentrations and the material characteristics of the films (crystalline structure and micro morphology) were investigated. The crystalline structure of the films was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the surface microstructure of films was quantitatively investigated using an atomic force microscope (AFM). Different nitrogen concentrations (50%, 58%, 67% and 75%) were used to deposit the films. As decreasing the nitrogen concentrations, the XRD intensity of the semi-polar (101̅3) oriented increases, the crystallite size of the films increases and the roughness of top surface decreases. The experimental results demonstrate that the highly semi-polar (101̅3) oriented AlN films appeared at the lower nitrogen concentration.