Wafer level quasi-van der Waals epitaxy of AlGaN/GaN heterojunctions on sp2-bonded BN controlled by AlN nucleation layer

Two dimensional materials, such as sp2-bonded boron nitride (BN) and graphene, have been proven to be excellent templates for the growth and fabrication of independent group III-nitride materials. Herein, wafer level sp2-bonded BN film was successfully grown as a release layer on two-inch sapphire substrate using MOCVD. The different nucleation mechanisms of gallium nitride (GaN) and aluminum nitride (AlN) grown on the BN surface were investigated. We discovered that AlN has a higher nucleation island density compared to GaN on the surface of BN which facilitates better merging of the GaN epitaxial layer. In addition, the quality of the GaN epitaxial layer was optimized by adjusting the growth temperature of AlN. A complete AlGaN/GaN heterojunction structure was subsequently grown on the best quality of GaN, and its average mobility and interlayer carrier concentration was about 1600 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 1 × 1013 cm−2. Finally, the AlGaN/GaN heterojunction was easily transferred from the substrate using tape, which proved the good 2D characteristics of sp2-bonded BN and can undergo non-destructive van der Waals transfer for the upper layer device.