Thin nitride films were grown onto HF-etched Si(111) substrates, at 400 to 600C, by means of plasma-source molecular beam epitaxy. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction and transmission electron microscopy showed that nitride films which were grown at 400C formed an initial amorphous region at the interface, followed by c-axis oriented columnar grains with slightly different tilts and twists. Nitride films which were grown at 600C contained an appreciably reduced amorphous region, near to the interface, which promoted the epitaxial growth of AlN; with AlN[00•1]||Si[111] and AlN[01•0]||Si[11¯2]. However, all of the films contained numerous defects; such as stacking faults, dislocations and grain boundaries.

Microstructure of Low Temperature Grown AlN Thin Films on Si(111) G.W.Auner, F.Jin, V.M.Naik, R.Naik: Journal of Applied Physics, 1999, 85[11], 7879-83