Energetics of AlN thin films and the implications for epitaxial growth on SiC
- 15 December 1996
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review B
- Vol. 54 (24), R17351-R17354
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.54.r17351
Abstract
We present an ab initio study of the energetics of thin films of AlN on the Si-terminated SiC(0001) surface. We demonstrate the existence of a vacancy-stabilized NAl wetting layer that can be obtained in both the and 2×2 reconstructions through an N-rich deposition of Al and N. We show that the latter reconstruction is compatible with a nonabrupt neutral interface which promotes the formation of thick overlayers. Our study of the competition between two-dimensional and three-dimensional growth reveals that only large islands ( Å) are stable with respect to the initial two-dimensional phase.
Keywords
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