Growth window and wurtzite phase stability of molecular-beam-epitaxial ScInN thin films with composition-dependent photoluminescence
Abstract
We establish the growth window and wurtzite phase stability of plasma-assisted molecular-beam-epitaxial ScInN thin films over a broad composition range. Lower growth temperatures suppress rock salt phase formation and enable wurtzite ScInN without detectable rock salt contributions up to x(Sc) = 0.36. X-ray diffraction reveals systematic composition-dependent changes in phase formation and lattice parameters. We observe a pronounced anisotropic lattice evolution, with the in-plane lattice parameter a showing only a minor dependence on scandium content, whereas a decrease in the out-of-plane lattice parameter c is more pronounced. This trend is consistent with results from density functional theory calculations we performed using the SCAN functional, as well as Raman spectroscopy measurements showing a strong shift of the A1(LO) modes and a much smaller shift of the E2 mode. Photoluminescence is observed across the investigated alloy series, with the maximum emission shifting from 0.85 eV for InN to 2.07 eV for x(Sc) = 0.40. These results establish molecular-beam-epitaxial ScInN as an experimentally accessible alloy system with an extended wurtzite stability range, a composition-dependent optical response, and a nearly constant in-plane lattice parameter enabling heterostructure design with reduced lattice mismatch.
Article Details
Journal Info
Journal of Applied Physics
American Institute of Physics
Authors (15)
S. A. Jentsch
Institute of Experimental Physics I and Center for Materials Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen 1 , Giessen D-35392,
M. F. Zscherp
Institute of Experimental Physics I and Center for Materials Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen 1 , Giessen D-35392,
D. Filippozzi
Institute of Experimental Physics I and Center for Materials Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen 1 , Giessen D-35392,
M. Lauer
Institute for Theoretical Physics and Center for Materials Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen 2 , Giessen D-35392,
F. Schäfer
Institute of Experimental Physics I and Center for Materials Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen 1 , Giessen D-35392,
M. Stein
Institute of Experimental Physics I and Center for Materials Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen 1 , Giessen D-35392,
L. Chen
J. M. Waack
Institute for Theoretical Physics and Center for Materials Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen 2 , Giessen D-35392,
F. Meierhofer
Institute of Semiconductor Technology, Technische Universität Braunschweig 3 , Braunschweig D-38106,
C. Margenfeld
Institute of Semiconductor Technology, Technische Universität Braunschweig 3 , Braunschweig D-38106,
A. Waag
Institute of Semiconductor Technology, Technische Universität Braunschweig 3 , Braunschweig D-38106,
P. J. Klar
Institute of Experimental Physics I and Center for Materials Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen 1 , Giessen D-35392,
C. Heiliger
Institute for Theoretical Physics and Center for Materials Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen 2 , Giessen D-35392,
S. Chatterjee
J. Schörmann
Institute of Experimental Physics I and Center for Materials Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen 1 , Giessen D-35392,