Photoelectron spectroscopy study of AlN films grown on n-type 6H-SiC by MOCVD

Photoelectron spectroscopy has been employed to analyze the content and chemical states of the elements on the surface of AlN films with different thickness, which are synthesized by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on the n-type SiC substrates under low pressure. It is found that, besides the carbon and gallium on the AlN surface, the atom percentage of surface oxygen increases from 4.9 to 8.4, and the electron affinity also increases from 0.36 to 0.97 eV, when the thickness of AlN films increase from 50 to 400 nm. Furthermore, accompanying with the high-resolution XPS spectra of the O 1s, it is speculated that surface oxygen may be the major influence on the electron affinity, where the surface oxygen changes the surface chemical states through replacing N to form Al–O bond and Ga–O bond, although there are also a few of Ga and C contaminations in the chemical sate of Ga–O and C–C, respectively.