Properties of N-Type GaN Thin Film with Si-Ti Codoping on a Glass Substrate

Abstract

In this study, n-type gallium nitride (GaN) films were fabricated by a silicon–titanium (Si-Ti) codoping sputtering technique with a zinc oxide (ZnO) buffer layer on amorphous glass substrates with different post-growth annealing temperatures for optimizing the GaN crystal quality. Si-Ti-codoped n-type GaN films that were thermally annealed at 400 °C had a low thin-film resistivity of 2.6 × 10−1 Ω-cm and a high electron concentration of 6.65 × 1019 cm−3, as determined through Hall measurement. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed a high (002) XRD intensity with a narrow spectral line and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) value that indicated the superior crystal growth of a hexagonal structure of the GaN thin films. In addition, photoluminescence measurement results demonstrated a near-band-edge emission at 365 nm, indicating the crystal growth of GaN thin films on glass substrates. The Burstein–Moss effect was observed in the Tauc plot results, indicating that the Fermi level inside the conduction band moves upward and thus improves the n-type properties of the GaN thin film. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement results revealed that all atoms doped into the GaN film are present and that both Si and Ti atoms bond with N atoms.