Fabrication of InN on epitaxial graphene using RF-MBE

Abstract

This paper reports the fabrication of InN layers on the epitaxial graphene (EG) using radio-frequency plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (RF-MBE). Prior to the fabrication of InN, single crystalline EG with step and terrace structure was formed on 6H-SiC (0001) substrate in an Ar ambient by the Si sublimation method. Single crystalline epitaxial layers of InN with smooth surfaces are successfully fabricated on the EG using RF-MBE. InN layers with terrace and step structure are grown on the graphene surface up to 2MLs, and InN are grown in a layer by layer 2D growth mode. If the number of layers is increased above 3 MLs, the terrace and steps disappear, and the growth mode changes to 3D mode. The Raman spectroscopy analysis shows that the interfacial stress is reduced for the InN layer grown on the EG surface. The quality of the grown InN layer on the EG surface achieved at present is comparable to the InN film grown on sapphire. This work opens the possibility of growing high-quality InN layers on the EG surface in the near future.

Indium Nitride at the 2D Limit

“…[16] Growing InN via RF molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) Ishimaru and coworkers found that the growth turns to 3D mode after the 3 rd layer is grown despite the layer by layer growth of MBE. [17] It is obvious that this few nm thick region can be indexed as cubic InN, two of the (111) type planes are marked in the image. The other lattice spacings in the 3D part can be measured on the HREM image directly and given at the marked region also 0.285 nm along the two <111> type directions, what gives perfectly the appropriate values for the cubic InN (with a = 0.49 nm).…”

“…[ 16 ] Growing InN via RF molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) Ishimaru and coworkers found that the growth turns to 3D mode after the 3 rd layer is grown despite the layer by layer growth of MBE. [ 17 ]…”

Growth Mechanism of InN Nucleation Layers on Epitaxial Graphene Using Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy and Radio-Frequency Molecular Beam Epitaxy

“…We have recently reported the growth of InN on epitaxial graphene using radio-frequency molecular beam epitaxy (RF-MBE). 26 Dobrovolskas et al have reported that luminescence of InN is significantly improved by adding a multilayer graphene as an interlayer, which mitigates the lattice difference between the InN layer and substrate through weak van der Waals interaction between nitride and graphene layers. 27 Growth of sp 3 -bonded three-dimensional (3D) III-nitride layers directly on the sp 2 -bonded 2D graphene is challenging.…”

“…Therefore, growth of InN on EG is expected to be very promising and is a new dimension of InN research to grow high-quality film. We have recently reported the growth of InN on epitaxial graphene using radio-frequency molecular beam epitaxy (RF-MBE) . Dobrovolskas et al have reported that luminescence of InN is significantly improved by adding a multilayer graphene as an interlayer, which mitigates the lattice difference between the InN layer and substrate through weak van der Waals interaction between nitride and graphene layers …”

“…Figure 6. (a−d) AFM images of the InN initial layers with different thicknesses grown on EG formed on Si-face 6H-SiC substrate by the RF-MBE method 26. …”