A highly sensitive method for characterizing heteroepitaxial group III nitride films on various substrates is developed on the basis of reflectivity studies below and just above the fundamental absorption edge. By analyzing the envelopes of the reflectivity spectrum, the influence of a buffer layer, and/or a nonabrupt substrate/film interface is verified, the refractive index of the active layer can be calculated independently of both the active layer thickness and the interface properties, and finally, qualitative conclusions about the interface properties are deduced. On this basis a suitable model for data fitting is established which contains only a small number of adjusted parameters. Moreover, the correlation between the refractive index and the thickness of the active layer is removed. From the fit, the energy dispersion of the refractive index and the thickness for both the active layer and the interlayers are obtained. The ability and high accuracy of the method is demonstrated by applying it to the investigation of hexagonal GaN films grown on GaAs and 6H–SiC substrates.
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1 September 1999
Research Article|
September 01 1999
Reflectivity investigations as a method for characterizing group III nitride films
S. Shokhovets;
S. Shokhovets
Institut für Physik, Technische Universität Ilmenau, PF 100565, D-98684 Ilmenau, Germany
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R. Goldhahn;
R. Goldhahn
Institut für Physik, Technische Universität Ilmenau, PF 100565, D-98684 Ilmenau, Germany
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G. Gobsch;
G. Gobsch
Institut für Physik, Technische Universität Ilmenau, PF 100565, D-98684 Ilmenau, Germany
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T. S. Cheng;
T. S. Cheng
Department of Physics, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
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C. T. Foxon;
C. T. Foxon
Department of Physics, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
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G. D. Kipshidze;
G. D. Kipshidze
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
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Wo. Richter
Wo. Richter
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
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J. Appl. Phys. 86, 2602–2610 (1999)
Article history
Received:
April 07 1999
Accepted:
May 20 1999
Citation
S. Shokhovets, R. Goldhahn, G. Gobsch, T. S. Cheng, C. T. Foxon, G. D. Kipshidze, Wo. Richter; Reflectivity investigations as a method for characterizing group III nitride films. J. Appl. Phys. 1 September 1999; 86 (5): 2602–2610. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.371098
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