Vertically Oriented Growth of GaN Nanorods on Si Using Graphene as an Atomically Thin Buffer Layer

Martin Heilmann; A Mazid Munshi; George Sarau; Manuela Göbelt; Christian Tessarek; Vidar T Fauske; Antonius T J van Helvoort; Jianfeng Yang; Michael Latzel; Björn Hoffmann; Gavin Conibeer; Helge Weman; Silke Christiansen

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00484

Vertically Oriented Growth of GaN Nanorods on Si Using Graphene as an Atomically Thin Buffer Layer

Nano Lett. 2016 Jun 8;16(6):3524-32. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00484. Epub 2016 May 3.

Authors

Martin Heilmann¹, A Mazid Munshi², George Sarau^{1

3}, Manuela Göbelt¹, Christian Tessarek^{1

3

4}, Vidar T Fauske⁵, Antonius T J van Helvoort⁵, Jianfeng Yang⁶, Michael Latzel^{1

4}, Björn Hoffmann^{1

4}, Gavin Conibeer⁶, Helge Weman^{2

7}, Silke Christiansen^{1

3

8}

Affiliations

¹ Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light , Günther-Scharowsky-Str. 1, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
² CrayoNano AS , Otto Nielsens vei 12, NO-7052 Trondheim, Norway.
³ Institut für Nanoarchitekturen für die Energieumwandlung, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH , Hahn-Meitner Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Institute of Optics, Information and Photonics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) , Staudtstr. 7/B2, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
⁵ Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway.
⁶ School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales , Kensington, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.
⁷ Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway.
⁸ Physics Department, Freie Universität Berlin , Arnimallee 14, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.

PMID: 27124605
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00484

Abstract

The monolithic integration of wurtzite GaN on Si via metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy is strongly hampered by lattice and thermal mismatch as well as meltback etching. This study presents single-layer graphene as an atomically thin buffer layer for c-axis-oriented growth of vertically aligned GaN nanorods mediated by nanometer-sized AlGaN nucleation islands. Nanostructures of similar morphology are demonstrated on graphene-covered Si(111) as well as Si(100). High crystal and optical quality of the nanorods are evidenced through scanning transmission electron microscopy, micro-Raman, and cathodoluminescence measurements supported by finite-difference time-domain simulations. Current-voltage characteristics revealed high vertical conduction of the as-grown GaN nanorods through the Si substrates. These findings are substantial to advance the integration of GaN-based devices on any substrates of choice that sustains the GaN growth temperatures, thereby permitting novel designs of GaN-based heterojunction device concepts.

Keywords: GaN; GaN-on-Si; MOVPE; graphene; nanorods.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't