On the Phase Composition, Morphology, and Optical and Electronic Characteristics of AlN Nanofilms Grown on Misoriented GaAs(100) Substrates

Abstract

Thin AlN nanofilms are produced by reactive ion-plasma deposition onto GaAs(100) substrates misoriented with respect to the 〈100〉 direction to different degrees. It is shown that growth on substrates misoriented with respect to the 〈100〉 direction to different degrees results in the formation of AlN films with different phase compositions and crystal states. An increase in the degree of misorientation of the GaAs(100) substrate used for growth influences both the structural quality of AlN nanofilms and their electronic structure, surface morphology, and optical properties. Thus, the morphology, surface composition, and optical functional characteristics of AlN/GaAs(100) heterophase systems can be controlled using differently misoriented GaAs(100) substrates.