Microstructural characterization of AlxGa1−xN/GaN high electron mobility transistor layers on 200 mm Si(111) substrates

Realization of high crystal quality GaN layers on silicon substrates requires a great control over epitaxy as well as detailed characterization of the buried defects and propagating dislocations within the epilayers. In this Letter, we present the microstructural characterization of AlxGa1−xN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structures epitaxially grown on 200 mm Si (111) substrates with superlattice (SL) buffers. The HEMT stack is also composed of an intermediate thick AlxGa1−xN layer sandwiched between the short-period and long-period AlxGa1−xN/AlN SLs. Structural and morphological characteristics of the GaN-based epilayers are studied to assess the quality of the HEMT stack grown on such 200 mm diameter substrates. The detailed microstructural uniformity of the epilayers is addressed by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technique. In depth scanning TEM with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) investigations have been carried out to probe the microstructural quality of the HEMT stack comprising of such short- and long-period AlxGa1−xN/AlN SLs. The EELS-plasmon maps are utilized to address the sharp interface characteristics of the SL layers as well as the top active p-GaN/AlxGa1−xN/GaN layers. This work highlights the capability of high-resolution TEM as a complementing characterization method to produce reliable AlxGa1−xN/GaN HEMTs on such a large diameter silicon substrate.