Strain distribution in GaN/AlN superlattices grown on AlN/sapphire templates: comparison of X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence studies

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Auteurs principaux: Wierzbicka, Aleksandra, Kaminska, Agata, Sobczak, Kamil, Jankowski, Dawid, Koronski, Kamil, Strak, Pawel, Sobanska, Marta, Zytkiewicz, Zbigniew R.
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Publié: 2025
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author Wierzbicka, Aleksandra
Kaminska, Agata
Sobczak, Kamil
Jankowski, Dawid
Koronski, Kamil
Strak, Pawel
Sobanska, Marta
Zytkiewicz, Zbigniew R.
author_facet Wierzbicka, Aleksandra
Kaminska, Agata
Sobczak, Kamil
Jankowski, Dawid
Koronski, Kamil
Strak, Pawel
Sobanska, Marta
Zytkiewicz, Zbigniew R.
contents Series of GaN/AlN superlattices (SLs) with various periods and the same thicknesses of GaN quantum wells and AlN barriers have been investigated. X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence (PL) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques were used to study the influence of thickness of AlN and GaN sublayers on strain distribution in GaN/AlN SL structures. Detailed X-ray diffraction measurements demonstrate that the strain occurring in SLs generally decreases with an increase of well/barrier thickness. Fitting of X-ray diffraction curves allowed determining the real thicknesses of the GaN wells and AlN barriers. Since blurring of the interfaces causes deviation of calculated data from experimental results the quality of the interfaces has been evaluated as well and compared with results of TEM measurements. For the samples with thinner wells/barriers the presence of pin-holes and threading dislocations has been observed in TEM measurements. The best quality of interfaces has been found for the sample with a well/barrier thickness of 3 nm. Finally, PL spectra showed that due to Quantum-Confined Stark Effect the PL peak energies of the SLs decreased with increasing the width of the GaN quantum wells and AlN barriers. The effect is well modelled by ab initio calculations based on the density functional theory applied for tetragonally strained structures of the same geometry using a full tensorial representation of the strain in the SLs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_22294
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Strain distribution in GaN/AlN superlattices grown on AlN/sapphire templates: comparison of X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence studies
Wierzbicka, Aleksandra
Kaminska, Agata
Sobczak, Kamil
Jankowski, Dawid
Koronski, Kamil
Strak, Pawel
Sobanska, Marta
Zytkiewicz, Zbigniew R.
Materials Science
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Series of GaN/AlN superlattices (SLs) with various periods and the same thicknesses of GaN quantum wells and AlN barriers have been investigated. X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence (PL) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques were used to study the influence of thickness of AlN and GaN sublayers on strain distribution in GaN/AlN SL structures. Detailed X-ray diffraction measurements demonstrate that the strain occurring in SLs generally decreases with an increase of well/barrier thickness. Fitting of X-ray diffraction curves allowed determining the real thicknesses of the GaN wells and AlN barriers. Since blurring of the interfaces causes deviation of calculated data from experimental results the quality of the interfaces has been evaluated as well and compared with results of TEM measurements. For the samples with thinner wells/barriers the presence of pin-holes and threading dislocations has been observed in TEM measurements. The best quality of interfaces has been found for the sample with a well/barrier thickness of 3 nm. Finally, PL spectra showed that due to Quantum-Confined Stark Effect the PL peak energies of the SLs decreased with increasing the width of the GaN quantum wells and AlN barriers. The effect is well modelled by ab initio calculations based on the density functional theory applied for tetragonally strained structures of the same geometry using a full tensorial representation of the strain in the SLs.
title Strain distribution in GaN/AlN superlattices grown on AlN/sapphire templates: comparison of X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence studies
topic Materials Science
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.22294