Silicon orientations to grow semi-polar AlN

Abstract The growth of non-polar GaN on Si substrates is a grand challenge in developing light-emitting diodes, where AlN layers serve as buffers to mitigate the lattice mismatch between GaN and Si in practice. Even though, the primary difficulty aries from the predominant growth of polar AlN(0001)...

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Main Authors: Ji-Li Li, Ye-Fei Li, Zhi-Pan Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59613-5
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author Ji-Li Li
Ye-Fei Li
Zhi-Pan Liu
author_facet Ji-Li Li
Ye-Fei Li
Zhi-Pan Liu
author_sort Ji-Li Li
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The growth of non-polar GaN on Si substrates is a grand challenge in developing light-emitting diodes, where AlN layers serve as buffers to mitigate the lattice mismatch between GaN and Si in practice. Even though, the primary difficulty aries from the predominant growth of polar AlN(0001) layers. Here we demonstrate that stepped Si(320) can establish a high-quality interface with the semi-polar AlN(22 $$\bar{4}1$$ 4 ¯ 1 ) as identified through machine-learning-based structure predictions that explored millions of potential interface configurations. This interface exhibits atomic-matching with low interface energy, and importantly, features reduced polarization (0.20 C/m2) along with superior interfacial thermal conductance (0.47 GWm-2K-1).
format Article
id doaj-art-e88e5124f6f447368cf028108c4e44eb
institution DOAJ
issn 2041-1723
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-e88e5124f6f447368cf028108c4e44eb2025-08-20T03:09:20ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-05-011611610.1038/s41467-025-59613-5Silicon orientations to grow semi-polar AlNJi-Li Li0Ye-Fei Li1Zhi-Pan Liu2State Key Laboratory of Porous Materials for Separation and Conversion, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Material, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Science, Department of Chemistry, Fudan UniversityState Key Laboratory of Porous Materials for Separation and Conversion, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Material, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Science, Department of Chemistry, Fudan UniversityState Key Laboratory of Porous Materials for Separation and Conversion, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Material, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Science, Department of Chemistry, Fudan UniversityAbstract The growth of non-polar GaN on Si substrates is a grand challenge in developing light-emitting diodes, where AlN layers serve as buffers to mitigate the lattice mismatch between GaN and Si in practice. Even though, the primary difficulty aries from the predominant growth of polar AlN(0001) layers. Here we demonstrate that stepped Si(320) can establish a high-quality interface with the semi-polar AlN(22 $$\bar{4}1$$ 4 ¯ 1 ) as identified through machine-learning-based structure predictions that explored millions of potential interface configurations. This interface exhibits atomic-matching with low interface energy, and importantly, features reduced polarization (0.20 C/m2) along with superior interfacial thermal conductance (0.47 GWm-2K-1).https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59613-5
spellingShingle Ji-Li Li
Ye-Fei Li
Zhi-Pan Liu
Silicon orientations to grow semi-polar AlN
Nature Communications
title Silicon orientations to grow semi-polar AlN
title_full Silicon orientations to grow semi-polar AlN
title_fullStr Silicon orientations to grow semi-polar AlN
title_full_unstemmed Silicon orientations to grow semi-polar AlN
title_short Silicon orientations to grow semi-polar AlN
title_sort silicon orientations to grow semi polar aln
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59613-5
work_keys_str_mv AT jilili siliconorientationstogrowsemipolaraln
AT yefeili siliconorientationstogrowsemipolaraln
AT zhipanliu siliconorientationstogrowsemipolaraln