Group 13 nitride crystal and group 13 nitride crystal substrate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9732435-B2
Application number	US-201213609077-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2012
Priority date	Sep 14, 2011
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

A group 13 nitride crystal having a hexagonal crystal structure and containing at least a nitrogen atom and at least a metal atom selected from a group consisting of B, Al, Ga, In, and Tl. The group 13 nitride crystal includes a first region disposed on an inner side in a cross section intersecting c-axis, a third region disposed on an outermost side in the cross section and having a crystal property different from that of the first region, and a second region disposed at least partially between the first region and the third region in the cross section, the second region being a transition region of a crystal growth and having a crystal property different from that of the first region and that of the third region.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A group 13 nitride crystal having a hexagonal crystal structure and containing at least a nitrogen atom and at least a metal atom selected from a group consisting of B, Al, Ga, In, and Tl, the group 13 nitride crystal comprising:
a first region disposed on an inner side in a cross section intersecting c-axis;
a third region disposed on an outermost side in the cross section and having a crystal property different from that of the first region; and
a second region disposed at least partially between the first region and the third region in the cross section, the second region being a transition region of a crystal growth and having a crystal property different from that of the first region and that of the third region,
wherein the metal atom includes Ga at least,
wherein the crystal property includes a peak intensity ratio E1/E2 where E1 is a peak intensity of a first peak including a band edge emission of gallium nitride and E2 is a peak intensity of a second peak located at 600 nm, in an emission spectrum of the cross section excited by an electron beam or ultraviolet light, and for said first region, second region and third region, said peak intensity ratio E1/E2 satisfies the following formula (1):
A 1< A 2< A 3  (1)

where A1 represents the peak intensity ratio E1/E2 of the first region, A2 represents the peak intensity ratio E1/E2 of the second region, and A3 represents the peak intensity ratio E1/E2 of the third region.

2. The group 13 nitride crystal according to claim 1 , wherein
in the cross section, the second region is disposed so as to surround an entire outer periphery of the first region, and the first region and the third region do not contact each other.

3. The group 13 nitride crystal according to claim 1 , wherein the peak intensity E2 of the second peak satisfies a formula (2A) and a formula (2B):
B 1> B 3  the formula (2A)

B 2> B 3  the formula (2B)

in the formula (2A), B1 represents the peak intensity E2 of the second peak of the first region,
in the formula (2B), B2 represents the peak intensity E2 of the second peak of the second region, and
in the formula (2A) and the formula (2B), B3 represents the peak intensity E2 of the second peak of the third region.

4. The group 13 nitride crystal according to claim 1 , wherein the peak intensity E1 of the first peak satisfies a formula (3A) and a formula (3B):
C 1< C 3  the formula (3A)

C 2< C 3  the formula (3B)

in the formula (3A), C1 represents the peak intensity E1 of the first peak of the first region,
in the formula (3B), C2 represents the peak intensity E1 of the first peak of the second region, and
in the formula (3A) and the formula (3B), C3 represents the peak intensity E1 of the first peak of the third region.

5. The group 13 nitride crystal according to claim 1 , wherein
a dislocation density in the second region about one or more dislocations extending in a plane intersecting the c-axis is higher than a dislocation density in the first region about one or more dislocations extending in the plane intersecting the c-axis, and
the dislocation density in the second region about one or more dislocations extending in the plane intersecting the c-axis is higher than a dislocation density in the third region about one or more dislocations extending in the plane intersecting the c-axis.

6. The group 13 nitride crystal according to claim 1 , further comprising a fourth region disposed on an outer side of the first region and an inner side of the second region and the third region in the cross section, wherein
in the first region, the peak intensity E1 of the first peak is smaller than the peak intensity E2 of the second peak,
in the fourth region, the peak intensity E1 of the first peak is greater than the peak intensity E2 of the second peak,
and the second peak is located in a longer wavelength area than the first peak in the emission spectrum of the cross section excited by the electron beam or the ultraviolet light.

7. The group 13 nitride crystal according to claim 1 , wherein
a dislocation density C of c-plane in the third region is lower than a dislocation density M of m-plane in the third region.

8. A group 13 nitride crystal substrate comprising
at least a part of a group 13 nitride crystal having a hexagonal crystal structure and containing at least a nitrogen atom and at least a metal atom selected from a group consisting of B, Al, Ga, In, and Tl, wherein the group 13 nitride crystal includes:
a first region disposed on an inner side in a cross section intersecting c-axis;
a third region disposed on an outermost side in the cross section and having a crystal property different from that of the first region; and
a second region disposed at least partially between the first region and the third region in the cross section, the second region being a transition region of a crystal growth and having a crystal property different from that of the first region and that of the third region,
wherein the metal atom includes Ga at least,
wherein the crystal property includes a peak intensity ratio E1/E2 where E1 is a peak intensity of a first peak including a band edge emission of gallium nitride and E2 is a peak intensity of a second peak located at 600 nm, in an emission spectrum of the cross section excited by an electron beam or ultraviolet light, and for said first region, second region and third region, said peak intensity ratio E1/E2 satisfies the following formula (1):
A 1< A 2< A 3  (1)

where A1 represents the peak intensity ratio E1/E2 of the first region, A2 represents the peak intensity ratio E1/E2 of the second region, and A3 represents the peak intensity ratio E1/E2 of the third region.

9. The group 13 nitride crystal substrate according to claim 8 , wherein
a main face is c-plane, and
an off angle relative to the c-axis is less than 0.1 degrees.

10. The group 13 nitride crystal according to claim 1 , wherein the first region contains boron of 4×10 18 /cm 3 or more.

Assignees

• Hayashi Masahiro
• Sarayama Seiji
• Satoh Takashi
• Nambu Hiroshi
• Kimura Chiharu
• Miyoshi Naoya
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hayashi Masahiro
• Sarayama Seiji
• Satoh Takashi
• Nambu Hiroshi
• Kimura Chiharu
• Miyoshi Naoya

Classifications

• C30B29/403

  AIII-nitrides · CPC title

• C30B9/00

  Single-crystal growth from melt solutions using molten solvents (by normal or gradient freezing C30B11/00; by zone-melting C30B13/00; by crystal pulling C30B15/00; on immersed seed crystal C30B17/00; by liquid phase epitaxial growth C30B19/00; under a protective fluid C30B27/00) · CPC title

• C30B29/406

  Gallium nitride · CPC title

• C30B29/607

  Chemistry & Metallurgy · mapped topic

• C30B7/105 Primary

  using ammonia as solvent, i.e. ammonothermal processes · CPC title