Structural surface characteristics of aluminum-gallium nitride films on silicon carbide nanolayers on silicon

Experimental studies of the surface morphology of AlGaN films formed on nanometer-thick SiC layers synthesized on Si by atom substitution were performed. Structural characteristics of the surface of AlGaN/SiC/Si and AlGaN/AlN/SiC/Si heterostructures grown on Si with orientations (001), (011) and (111) were studied by atomic force microscopy. It is shown that the Si orientation has a significant influence on the surface morphology of AlGaN films. The surface roughness and characteristic dimensions of the AlGaN surface structure on nano-SiC/Si with and without an AlN buffer layer were measured. It is shown that the buffer AlN layer leads to a change in the surface structure dimensions of AlGaN layers.