<p>Light emitting diode (LED)-based solid state displays (SSD) have attracted growing interest due to their advantages in terms of contrast ratio, brightness, viewing angle, and response time compared to liquid crystal displays. GaN based III-nitride thin film materials are suitable materials for SSD due to their wide and tunable bandgaps. However, the large size and costly manufacturing process of commercially available GaN-based LED chips limit the potential uses of LEDs as the pixels of SSD.</p> <p>In this work, tiny single crystal beta-phase (111) oriented SiC whiskers 2 microns in diameter and 18 microns in length are proposed as the substrates for GaN growth due to their small lattice constant mismatch (3%) with GaN, their conductive nature and their small size for potential use in SSD pixels. Aligned SiC whiskers with (111) planes exposed in an alumina matrix prepared by a precise manipulation and alignment method of SiC whiskers including a series of steps was developed in this work. The alignment degree of whiskers achieved in this work is higher than conventional extrusion methods, and a sintering approach capable of forming an aligned alumina/SiC composite was developed and understood using a self-limiting oxidation reaction mechanism.</p> <p>To take advantage of the potential versatility, scalability and cost effectiveness of sputtering for SSD manufacturing, a reactive sputtering system was built for a detailed investigation of GaN thin film growth nucleation and subsequent growth behavior on SiC. 6H-SiC single crystal substrates were chosen as a reference substrate for SiC whiskers. An XRRC indicates that a high quality single crystalline GaN thin film was successfully grown epitaxially on 6H-SiC by sputtering. Two-dimensional X-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy results demonstrated that the epitaxial growth of GaN thin films relies on the short range order and/or crystalline area of the native oxide layer in GaN/SiC interface for the first time.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In this thesis, a custom quadrupole mass filter setup was established to independently investigate the impact of the most prominent ion species that are present during ion-assisted deposition. The setup was applied to the low temperature epitaxial growth of GaN thin films on 6H-SiC substrates. Atomic nitrogen ions at higher ion kinetic energies were for the first time independently identified to be the predominant cause of deteriorating crystalline qualities during growth. Precise control of the ion beam parameters yielded the capability to vary the average GaN phase content from almost purely wurtzite to the meta-stable zinc blende GaN phase. Even in case of comparably high crystalline quality, the atomic and molecular nitrogen ions were independently determined to yield distinct thin film topographies throughout the entire observed evolution of the thin film formation.:Bibliographical Description 1 Introduction 1.1 Epitaxial Thin Film Growth 1.2 Ion-Beam Assisted Deposition 1.2.1 Influence of Energetic Particles 1.2.2 Ion-atom Arrival Ratio 1.3 Gallium Nitride 2 Methods 2.1 Setup of the Deposition System 2.1.1 Knudsen Effusion Cell 2.1.2 Reflection High-Energy Electron Diffraction 2.1.3 Auger Electron Spectroscopy 2.1.4 Ion Sources 2.2 Quadrupole Mass Filter System 2.2.1 Components 2.2.2 Working Principle of a Quadrupole Mass Filter 2.2.3 Alternative Mass Filters 2.3 X-ray Diffraction and Reflectivity 2.4 Atomic Force Microscopy 2.5 Transmission Electron Microscopy 3 Results and Discussions 3.1 Characterization of the Quadrupole Mass Filter System 3.1.1 Mass Filter Performance and Resolution 3.1.2 Ion Beam Characteristics 3.1.3 Space Charge Considerations 3.1.4 Conclusions 3.2 Influence of the I/A Ratio and Ion Kinetic Energy 3.2.1 Determination of the GaN Phase Composition 3.2.2 Film Topography and Growth Mode 3.2.3 Crystal Structure and Orientation 3.2.4 Microstructure at the Interface 3.2.5 Conclusions 3.3 Impact of the Ion Species on Growth Instabilities 3.3.1 Growth Rates and Thin Film Topography 3.3.2 Crystal Structure 3.3.3 Growth Mode and RHEED pattern evolution 3.3.4 Conclusions 4 Summary and Conclusions Bibliography Complete Publication List of the Author Acknowledgments Declaration of Authorship / In dieser Arbeit wurde ein maßgefertigter Quadrupol-Massenfilteraufbau etabliert, um die Auswirkungen der prominentesten Ionenspezies, die während der ionengestützten Abscheidung vorhanden sind, unabhängig voneinander zu untersuchen. Der Aufbau wurde für das epitaktische Niedertemperatur-Wachstum von GaN-Dünnschichten auf 6H-SiC-Substraten angewendet. Atomare Stickstoffionen bei höheren kinetischen Ionenenergien wurden zum ersten Mal in der Abwesenheit anderer Spezies als die dominierende Ursache für die Verschlechterung der kristallinen Qualität während des Wachstums identifiziert. Eine präzise Kontrolle der Ionenstrahlparameter ergab die Fähigkeit, den durchschnittlichen GaN-Phasengehalt von der fast reinen Wurtzit- bis zur metastabilen Zinkblende-GaN-Phase zu variieren. Selbst bei vergleichbar hoher kristalliner Qualität weisen die mit atomaren und molekularen Stickstoffionen hergestellten Schichten unabhängig voneinander verschiedene Topographien auf, die sich während der gesamten beobachteten Entwicklung der Dünnschichtbildung deutlich abzeichneten.:Bibliographical Description 1 Introduction 1.1 Epitaxial Thin Film Growth 1.2 Ion-Beam Assisted Deposition 1.2.1 Influence of Energetic Particles 1.2.2 Ion-atom Arrival Ratio 1.3 Gallium Nitride 2 Methods 2.1 Setup of the Deposition System 2.1.1 Knudsen Effusion Cell 2.1.2 Reflection High-Energy Electron Diffraction 2.1.3 Auger Electron Spectroscopy 2.1.4 Ion Sources 2.2 Quadrupole Mass Filter System 2.2.1 Components 2.2.2 Working Principle of a Quadrupole Mass Filter 2.2.3 Alternative Mass Filters 2.3 X-ray Diffraction and Reflectivity 2.4 Atomic Force Microscopy 2.5 Transmission Electron Microscopy 3 Results and Discussions 3.1 Characterization of the Quadrupole Mass Filter System 3.1.1 Mass Filter Performance and Resolution 3.1.2 Ion Beam Characteristics 3.1.3 Space Charge Considerations 3.1.4 Conclusions 3.2 Influence of the I/A Ratio and Ion Kinetic Energy 3.2.1 Determination of the GaN Phase Composition 3.2.2 Film Topography and Growth Mode 3.2.3 Crystal Structure and Orientation 3.2.4 Microstructure at the Interface 3.2.5 Conclusions 3.3 Impact of the Ion Species on Growth Instabilities 3.3.1 Growth Rates and Thin Film Topography 3.3.2 Crystal Structure 3.3.3 Growth Mode and RHEED pattern evolution 3.3.4 Conclusions 4 Summary and Conclusions Bibliography Complete Publication List of the Author Acknowledgments Declaration of Authorship