Engineering of the Interface between Silicon and Rare-Earth-Oxide Buffer for GaN Growth

Abstract

Epitaxial multilayer heterostructures based on rare earth oxides serve as stress mitigating buffers for the growth of GaN on a Si (111) substrate. The process for the formation a uniform amorphous silicon dioxide layer between a silicon substrate and single crystal rare-earth oxide is described. The amorphous silicon dioxide interlayer is formed between the gadolinium oxide and the silicon substrate for additional relief of thermal expansion and lattice mismatch induced stress because of its reduced viscosity at temperatures typical for rare earth oxides and gallium nitride growth.