Effect of Thermal Treated GaSb Substrate for Epitaxial Growth of CdZnTe Film by Close-Spaced Sublimation Method

Abstract

Abstract: The surface quality of the substrate has an important effect on the quality of the growth film. The roughness, uniformity, adhesion residue and oxide layer of the substrate are the evaluation criteria of its surface performance. In this paper, an in-situ thermal treatment method to remove the natural oxides on GaSb (001) substrates for epitaxial growth of CdZnTe films by close-spaced sublimation method was reported. By controlling the temperature and time of the thermal treatment, a clean and smooth substrate state is obtained. The effect of thermal treatment on the morphology and composition of GaSb substrate was analyzed by atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The crystal quality of CdZnTe epitaxial film grown on GaSb substrate after thermal treatment was evaluated by double crystal X-ray curve. In order to further study the properties and epitaxial formation mechanism of the micro-defects near the heterogeneous interface, TEM analysis of CdZnTe/GaSb cross section was also carried out. After 180 s thermal treatment at 600 ℃, the GaSb substrate can obtain a clean and relatively flat surface after most of the oxide is removed from the substrate surface, thus improving the crystallization quality of CdZnTe epitaxial film. The full width of half maximum of double crystal X-ray curve is 94″, which approached the crystalline quality of bulk CdZnTe crystal ever reported.

Key words: CdZnTe, GaSb, epitaxial growth, thin film, physical vapour deposition, thermal treatment, semiconductor

CLC Number:

TN304.2

LI Yang, CAO Kun, JIE Wanqi. Effect of Thermal Treated GaSb Substrate for Epitaxial Growth of CdZnTe Film by Close-Spaced Sublimation Method[J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2024, 53(10): 1705-1711.

References

[1] TAKAHASHI T, WATANABE S. Recent progress in CdTe and CdZnTe detectors[J]. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 2001, 48(4): 950-959.
[2] SELLIN P J. Recent advances in compound semiconductor radiation detectors[J]. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 2003, 513(1/2): 332-339.
[3] 武蕊, 范东海, 康阳, 等. 半导体辐射探测材料与器件研究进展[J]. 人工晶体学报, 2021, 50(10): 1813-1829.
WU R, FAN D H, KANG Y, et al. Research progress on semiconductor materials and devices for radiation detection[J]. Journal of Synthetic Crystals, 2021, 50(10): 1813-1829 (in Chinese).
[4] SORDO S D, ABBENE L, CAROLI E, et al. Progress in the development of CdTe and CdZnTe semiconductor radiation detectors for astrophysical and medical applications[J]. Sensors, 2009, 9(5): 3491-3526.
[5] IWANCZYK J S, NYGARD E, MEIRAV O, et al. Photon counting energy dispersive detector arrays for X-ray imaging[C]//IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science. IEEE, 2009: 535-542.
[6] ROY U N, BURGER A, JAMES R B. Growth of CdZnTe crystals by the traveling heater method[J]. Journal of Crystal Growth, 2013, 379: 57-62.
[7] XU Y D, JIE W Q, SELLIN P J, et al. Characterization of CdZnTe crystals grown using a seeded modified vertical Bridgman method[J]. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 2009, 56(5): 2808-2813.
[8] SELLIN P J. Thick film compound semiconductors for X-ray imaging applications[J]. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 2006, 563(1): 1-8.
[9] BIE J Y, WANG S L, GUAN Y S, et al. Close-spaced sublimation of CdZnTe∶In films for solar energy water splitting[J]. Energy & Fuels, 2021, 35(9): 8234-8245.
[10] YANG F, HUANG J, ZOU T Y, et al. The influence of surface processing on properties of CdZnTe films prepared by close-spaced sublimation[J]. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2019, 357: 575-579.
[11] ÖZDEN S, KOC M M. Spectroscopic and microscopic investigation of MBE-grown CdTe (211)B epitaxial thin films on GaAs (211)B substrates[J]. Applied Nanoscience, 2018, 8(4): 891-903.
[12] NIRAULA M, YASUDA K, KOJIMA M, et al. Development of large-area CdTe/n-Si epitaxial layer-based heterojunction diode-type gamma-ray detector arrays[J]. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 2018, 65(4): 1066-1069.
[13] LI Y, CAO K, ZHA G Q, et al. An alternative GaSb substrate allowing close-spaced sublimation of Cd_0.9Zn_0.1Te epitaxial thick film for radiation detectors[J]. Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing, 2022, 147: 106688.
[14] MACKENZIE J, KUMAR F J, CHEN H. Advancements in THM-grown CdZnTe for use as substrates for HgCdTe[J]. Journal of Electronic Materials, 2013, 42(11): 3129-3132.
[15] 刘京明, 杨俊, 赵有文, 等. GaSb单晶研究进展[J]. 人工晶体学报, 2024, 53(1): 1-11.
LIU J M, YANG J, ZHAO Y W, et al. Research progress of GaSb single crystal[J]. Journal of Synthetic Crystals, 2024, 53(1): 1-11 (in Chinese).
[16] 边子夫, 李晖, 徐世海, 等. GaSb单晶片CMP工艺的研究[J]. 微纳电子技术, 2017, 54(11): 797-800.
BIAN Z F, LI H, XU S H, et al. Research on the CMP process of the GaSb single crystal wafer[J]. Micronanoelectronic Technology, 2017, 54(11): 797-800 (in Chinese).
[17] 冯银红, 沈桂英, 赵有文, 等. 无位错Te-GaSb(100)单晶抛光衬底的晶格完整性[J]. 人工晶体学报, 2022, 51(6): 1003-1011.
FENG Y H, SHEN G Y, ZHAO Y W, et al. Lattice perfection of dislocation-free (100) Te-GaSb single crystal polished substrate[J]. Journal of Synthetic Crystals, 2022, 51(6): 1003-1011 (in Chinese).
[18] 程雨, 刘京明, 苏杰, 等. GaSb晶片表面残留杂质分析[J]. 半导体光电, 2016, 37(1): 55-58.
CHENG Y, LIU J M, SU J, et al. Residual impurities analysis on the surface of gallium antimonide wafers[J]. Semiconductor Optoelectronics, 2016, 37(1): 55-58 (in Chinese).
[19] KODAMA M, RYOJI A, KIMATA M. Surface cleaning of GaSb (100) substrates for molecular-beam epitaxy[J]. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 1984, 23(12R): 1657.
[20] 房丹. GaSb薄膜及其超晶格结构的分子束外延生长与物性研究[D]. 长春: 长春理工大学, 2014.
FANG D. Characterization of GaSb film and supperlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy[D]. Changchun: Changchun University of Science and Technology, 2014 (in Chinese).
[21] MCDONNELL S, BRENNAN B, BURSA E, et al. GaSb oxide thermal stability studied by dynamic-XPS[J]. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, 2014, 32(4): 041201.
[22] YU W, SULLIVAN J L, SAIED S O. XPS and LEISS studies of ion bombarded GaSb, InSb and CdSe surfaces[J]. Surface Science, 1996, 352/353/354: 781-787.
[23] KIM Y K, LEE J Y, KIM H S, et al. An electron microscopy study on the formation mechanism of hillocks on the (100)CdTe/GaAs[J]. Journal of Crystal Growth, 1998, 192(1/2): 109-116.
[24] KUMAR S, KAPOOR A K, NAGPAL A, et al. Effect of substrate dislocations on the Hg in-diffusion in CdZnTe substrates used for HgCdTe epilayer growth[J]. Journal of Crystal Growth, 2006, 297(2): 311-316.
[25] GAO J N, JIE W Q, XIE Y, et al. Towards the cost effective epitaxy of hillocks free CdZnTe film on (001)GaAs by close-spaced sublimation[J]. Materials Letters, 2012, 78: 39-41.
[26] GAO J N, JIE W Q, YUAN Y Y, et al. One-step fast deposition of thick epitaxial CdZnTe film on (001)GaAs by close-spaced sublimation[J]. CrystEngComm, 2012, 14(5): 1790-1794.