GaN CVD Reactions: Hydrogen and Ammonia Decomposition and the Desorption of Gallium

Isotopic labeling experiments have revealed correlations between hydrogen reactions, Ga desorption, and ammonia decomposition in GaN CVD. Low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and temperature programmed desorption (TPD) were used to demonstrate that hydrogen atoms are available on the surface for reaction after exposing GaN(0001) to deuterium at elevated temperatures. Hydrogen reactions also lowered the temperature for Ga desorption significantly. Ammonia did not decompose on the surface before hydrogen exposure. However, after hydrogen reactions altered the surface, N15H3 did undergo both reversible and irreversible decomposition. This also resulted in the desorption of N2 of mixed isotopes below the onset of GaN sublimation, This suggests that the driving force of the high nitrogen-nitrogen bond strength (226 kcal/mol) can lead to the removal of nitrogen from the substrate when the surface is nitrogen rich. Overall, these findings indicate that hydrogen can influence G-aN CVD significantly, being a common factor in the reactivity of the surface, the desorption of Ga, and the decomposition of ammonia

Improved InGaN epitaxy yield by precise temperature measurement :yearly report 1.

This Report summarizes the first year progress (October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005) made under a NETL funded project entitled ''Improved InGaN Epitaxy Yield by Precise Temperature Measurement''. This Project addresses the production of efficient green LEDs, which are currently the least efficient of the primary colors. The Project Goals are to advance IR and UV-violet pyrometry to include real time corrections for surface emissivity on multiwafer MOCVD reactors. Increasing wafer yield would dramatically reduce high brightness LED costs and accelerate the commercial manufacture of inexpensive white light LEDs with very high color quality. This work draws upon and extends our previous research (funded by DOE) that developed emissivity correcting pyrometers (ECP) based on the high-temperature GaN opacity near 400 nm (the ultraviolet-violet range, or UVV), and the sapphire opacity in the mid-IR (MIR) near 7.5 microns

Final report on LDRD project : outstanding challenges for AlGaInN MOCVD.

The AlGaInN material system is used for virtually all advanced solid state lighting and short wavelength optoelectronic devices. Although metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) has proven to be the workhorse deposition technique, several outstanding scientific and technical challenges remain, which hinder progress and keep RD&A costs high. The three most significant MOCVD challenges are: (1) Accurate temperature measurement; (2) Reliable and reproducible p-doping (Mg); and (3) Low dislocation density GaN material. To address challenge (1) we designed and tested (on reactor mockup) a multiwafer, dual wavelength, emissivity-correcting pyrometer (ECP) for AlGaInN MOCVD. This system simultaneously measures the reflectance (at 405 and 550 nm) and emissivity-corrected temperature for each individual wafer, with the platen signal entirely rejected. To address challenge (2) we measured the MgCp{sub 2} + NH{sub 3} adduct condensation phase diagram from 65-115 C, at typical MOCVD concentrations. Results indicate that it requires temperatures of 80-100 C in order to prevent MgCp{sub 2} + NH{sub 3} adduct condensation. Modification and testing of our research reactor will not be complete until FY2005. A new commercial Veeco reactor was installed in early FY2004, and after qualification growth experiments were conducted to improve the GaN quality using a delayed recovery technique, which addresses challenge (3). Using a delayed recovery technique, the dislocation densities determined from x-ray diffraction were reduced from 2 x 10{sup 9} cm{sup -2} to 4 x 10{sup 8} cm{sup -2}. We have also developed a model to simulate reflectance waveforms for GaN growth on sapphire

Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology with Gravitational Waves

Gravitational wave detectors are already operating at interesting sensitivity levels, and they have an upgrade path that should result in secure detections by 2014. We review the physics of gravitational waves, how they interact with detectors (bars and interferometers), and how these detectors operate. We study the most likely sources of gravitational waves and review the data analysis methods that are used to extract their signals from detector noise. Then we consider the consequences of gravitational wave detections and observations for physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.Comment: 137 pages, 16 figures, Published version <http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2009-2

GaN CVD Reactions: Hydrogen and Ammonia Decomposition and the Desorption of Gallium

Isotopic labeling experiments have revealed correlations between hydrogen reactions, Ga desorption, and ammonia decomposition in GaN CVD. Low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and temperature programmed desorption (TPD) were used to demonstrate that hydrogen atoms are available on the surface for reaction after exposing GaN(0001) to deuterium at elevated temperatures. Hydrogen reactions also lowered the temperature for Ga desorption significantly. Ammonia did not decompose on the surface before hydrogen exposure. However, after hydrogen reactions altered the surface, N15H3 did undergo both reversible and irreversible decomposition. This also resulted in the desorption of N2 of mixed isotopes below the onset of GaN sublimation, This suggests that the driving force of the high nitrogen-nitrogen bond strength (226 kcal/mol) can lead to the removal of nitrogen from the substrate when the surface is nitrogen rich. Overall, these findings indicate that hydrogen can influence G-aN CVD significantly, being a common factor in the reactivity of the surface, the desorption of Ga, and the decomposition of ammonia