2025/06/11 by Duc V. Dinh, Dinh, Duc V., Esperanza Luna +3
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Acoustic Wave Resonator Technologies #Applied Physics (physics.app-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #GaN-based semiconductor devices and materials #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Metal and Thin Film Mechanics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2506.09715
openalex publication_date 2025/06/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Transition-metal nitrides constitute a versatile class of materials with diverse properties and wide-ranging applications. Exploring new surface orientations and uncovering novel properties can enable innovative material configurations with tailored functionalities for device integration. Here, we report the growth and characterization of (85-210)-nm-thick undoped ScN layers on AlN(1122)/Al2O3(1010) templates via plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. X-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy confirm a pure (113) surface orientation with rotational twins. Two distinct in-plane relationships between ScN(113) and AlN(1122) have been identified: the dominant [110]ScN ∥ [1123]AlN and [332]ScN ∥ [1100]AlN (under tensile-compression), and the less prevalent [121]ScN ∥ [1100]AlN and [741]ScN ∥ [1123]AlN (under biaxial compression). Broad photoluminescence spectra with a peak emission energy of ≈ 2.16 eV originate from the lowest direct gap at the X point of the ScN band structure. Temperature-dependent Hall-effect measurements (4-380 K) reveal that impurity band conduction dominates. The electron mobility is primarily limited by optical phonon scattering, characterized by an effective phonon energy of (60 ± 3) meV.