Hybrid density functional theory study on zinc blende GaN and diamond surfaces and interfaces: Effects of size, hydrogen passivation and dipole corrections

TL;DR

This study uses hybrid density functional theory to analyze the electronic properties and stability of zinc blende GaN and diamond surfaces and interfaces, highlighting the importance of size, passivation, and dipole corrections.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the stability and electronic structure of GaN/diamond interfaces, emphasizing the role of a Ga adlayer and growth conditions for stable thin-film interfaces.

Findings

Type I GaN/diamond interface is stable with a Ga adlayer.

Type II interface is unstable without a Ga adlayer.

Charge density intercalates into GaN, matching experimental observations.

Abstract

GaN based high electron mobility transistors show promise in numerous device applications which elicits the need for accurate models of bulk, surface, and interface electronic properties. We detail here a hybrid density functional theory study of zinc blende (zb) GaN and diamond bulk and surface properties, and zb GaN on diamond interfaces using slab supercell models. Details are provided on the dependence of electronic properties with respect to supercell size, the use of pseudo-hydrogen to passivate the bottom GaN layer, and dipole corrections. The large bulk modulus of diamond provides a templating structure for GaN to grow upon, where a large lattice mismatch is accounted for through the inclusion of a cationic Ga adlayer. Looking at both type I and II surfaces and interfaces of GaN shows the instability of zb GaN without an adlayer (type II), where increased size, pseudo-hydrogen passivation and dipole corrections do not remove the spurious interaction between the top and bottom layers in type II GaN. Layer dependent density of states, local potential differences, and charge density differences show that the type I interface (with a Ga adlayer) is stable with an adhesion energy of 0.704 eV/{\AA}2 (4.346 J/m2); interestingly, the diamond charge density intercalates into the first layer of GaN, which was seen experimentally for wurtzite GaN grown over diamond. The type II interface is shown to be unstable which implies that, to form a stable, thin-film zb interface between GaN and diamond, the partial pressure of trimethylgallium must be controlled to ensure a Ga layer exists both on the top and bottom layer of the GaN thin film atop the diamond. We believe our results can shed light towards a better understanding of the GaN/diamond multifaceted interface present in the GaN overgrowth on diamond samples.