The epitaxial growth of Mg3N2 thin films by molecular beam epitaxy has been recently achieved. This work presents the structural properties of the films, including grain sizes and lattice rotations, as assessed by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The films’ microstructure consists of well-aligned columnar grains 10 nm in diameter that nucleate at the film/substrate interface and display a significant column twist, in the order of 2.5°. As growth proceeds, tilted and twisted mosaic blocks overgrow these columns, as observed in many other epitaxial semiconductors. Yet, the rocking curves on symmetric reflections display extremely narrow peaks (∼50 arc sec), revealing a long-range spatial correlation between structural defects that should not be mistakenly considered a proof of high crystalline quality.
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7 March 2021
Research Article|
March 04 2021
Microstructure of epitaxial Mg3N2 thin films grown by MBE
P. John
;
P. John
1
CRHEA, CNRS, UCA
, Rue Bernard Gregory, 06560 Valbonne, France
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P. Vennéguès
;
P. Vennéguès
1
CRHEA, CNRS, UCA
, Rue Bernard Gregory, 06560 Valbonne, France
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H. Rotella;
H. Rotella
1
CRHEA, CNRS, UCA
, Rue Bernard Gregory, 06560 Valbonne, France
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C. Deparis;
C. Deparis
1
CRHEA, CNRS, UCA
, Rue Bernard Gregory, 06560 Valbonne, France
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C. Lichtensteiger
;
C. Lichtensteiger
2
DQMP, University of Geneva
, 24 Quai Ernest Ansermet, Geneva 4 1211, Switzerland
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J. Zúñiga-Pérez
J. Zúñiga-Pérez
a)
1
CRHEA, CNRS, UCA
, Rue Bernard Gregory, 06560 Valbonne, France
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
J. Appl. Phys. 129, 095303 (2021)
Article history
Received:
December 26 2020
Accepted:
February 21 2021
Citation
P. John, P. Vennéguès, H. Rotella, C. Deparis, C. Lichtensteiger, J. Zúñiga-Pérez; Microstructure of epitaxial Mg3N2 thin films grown by MBE. J. Appl. Phys. 7 March 2021; 129 (9): 095303. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0041903
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