Epitaxial growth of Sc2O3 films on GaN (0001) by pulsed laser deposition

The authors have demonstrated the epitaxial growth of Sc2O3 films on GaN (0001) using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) (with KrF excimer laser). The characteristics of these Sc2O3 films were found to be highly dependent on the substrate temperature (Ts) and the oxygen partial pressure (P) during the PLD process. Under optimized deposition conditions (Ts of 700°C and Po of 10mTorr), highly c-axis oriented Sc2O3 films have been epitaxially grown on GaN (0001) template with fine film crystallinity, smooth surface morphology, good film stoichiometry, and a refractive index close to that of the bulk material. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy measurements confirmed the heteroepitaxial nature of the Sc2O3 films on the GaN template and revealed an epitaxial relationship of [112]Sc2O3‖[213¯0]GaN and (222)Sc2O3‖(0002)GaN.

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