Metal‐Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition of Aluminum Yttrium Nitride

Transition metal nitrides, namely group 3 (Sc and Y) elements alloyed with AlN, are predicted to enhance several characteristics of wurtzite semiconducting nitrides, thanks to the presence of 3d orbitals and the distortion introduced in the lattice by the large metals. While AlScN is actively researched and grown by several techniques, and already many applications benefit from the enhanced piezoelectric and ferroelectric characteristics of this material. There are very few experimental reports on AlYN and several promising theoretical studies. The growth of AlYN by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is reported for the first time. Parameters such as the growth temperature, yttrium concentration in the alloy, and the effect of the underlying template on the epitaxial growth are studied. Structural and morphological characterizations of the epitaxial layers show that the growth of wurtzite AlYN with Y concentration up to 30% can be achieved, but cubic inclusions are formed by raising the growth temperature or the yttrium concentration. Impurities in the precursors and oxidation effects are discussed as well.