Pulsed laser deposition of TiN, AIN, and GaN films on sapphire

In recent years, many novel materials of interest to the opto-electronics community have emerged. Extensive research of the newly introduced materials in the form of epitaxial thin films and heterostructures requires a rapid prototyping technique. The pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique is well suited for such rapid and controlled growth of multilayers, demanding lesser parameter optimization effort than the conventional MBE and MOCVD processes. We have used the PLD technique to deposit epitaxial films of TiN, AIN, GaN films and heterostructures on sapphire substrates. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford backscattering/channeling (RBS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electrical, and spectrophotometric measurements, which indicate a high degree of epitaxy and crystal quality.