Structural and interfacial stabilities of epitaxial (112̄0)-oriented wurtzite AIN films grown on lattice-matched MnS buffered Si(100)

Epitaxial growth of non-polar wurtzite (1120) A1N thin films was achieved on a Si(100) substrate by inserting an MnS buffer layer. The a-plane AlN film and MnS buffer layer were fabricated by pulsed KrF excimer laser deposition, and their micro- and interfacial atomic structures were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The epitaxial relationship between films and substrate was found to be AlN(1120) ∥ MnS(100) ∥ Si(100) with in-plane alignment of AlN[1101] ∥ MnS[011] ∥ Si[011]. AlN[1120] grown on Si is perpendicular to A1N[0001] and parallel to MnS[100]. The MnS/Si interface is abrupt enough to inherit the orientation of the Si(100) surface. A sharp interface was also observed for AlN/MnS without any intermediate layer.