Iron and Iron Nitride Layers on Wurtzite Gallium Nitride Studied Using MBE/STM

ORAL

Abstract

It is of interest to study epitaxial growth of iron and iron nitride (FeN) layers on wurtzite gallium nitride (w-GaN) as a possible magnetic/wide-gap semiconductor system for spintronics. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) of Fe deposited on GaN(0001) suggest the existence of the epitaxial relationship [110]$_{Fe}\vert \vert $ [0001]$_{GaN}$. Furthermore, multi-streak RHEED patterns indicate the formation of a multi-domain but smooth film. Also, we have investigated the growth of $\sim $ 1:1 iron nitride on w-GaN(0001) using nitrogen plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Both reciprocal and real space techniques were used to study the growth of FeN, including RHEED and scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS). Bulk characterization was also applied, including XRD and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicate that zinc-blende FeN grows on GaN(0001) with the epitaxial relationship [111]$_{FeN }\vert \vert $ [0001]$_{GaN}$, and initial atomically-smooth FeN layers are formed. This work has been supported by DOE (Grant {\#}DE-FG02-06ER46317).

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Authors

  • Wenzhi Lin

    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701

  • J. Pak

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University
    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701
    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics \& Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701

  • Y. Liu

    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701
    • Department of Physics, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics \& Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701

  • K. Wang

    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University
    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics \& Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701

  • A. Chinchore

    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701
    • Ohio University
    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics \& Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701

  • David Ingram

    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701

  • A.R. Smith

    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701
    • Ohio University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University
    • Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Department of Physics \& Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701

  • Kai Sun

    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan
    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109