• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.127-134
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• 2015

Aluminum nitride (AlN) single crystals have attracted much attention for a next-generation semiconductor application because of wide bandgap (6.2 eV), high thermal conductivity ($285W/m{\cdot}K$), high electrical resistivity (${\geq}10^{14}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$), and high mechanical strength. The bulk AlN single crystals or thin film templates have been mainly grown by PVT (sublimation) method, flux method, solution growth method, and hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) method. Since AlN suffers difficulty in commercialization due to the defects that occur during single crystal growth, crystalline quality improvement via defects analyses is necessary. Etch pit density (EPD) analysis showed that the growth misorientations and the defects in the AlN surface exist. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) analyses were employed to investigate the overall crystalline quality and various kinds of defects. TEM studies show that the morphology of the AlN is clearly influenced by stacking fault, dislocation, second phase, etc. In addition EBSD analysis also showed that the zinc blende polymorph of AlN exists as a growth defects resulting in dislocation initiator.