Epitaxial lattice-matched Al$_{0.89}$Sc$_{0.11}$N/GaN distributed Bragg reflectors

TL;DR

This paper reports the growth and characterization of epitaxial Al$_{0.89}$Sc$_{0.11}$N/GaN distributed Bragg reflectors with high reflectivity at 400 nm, demonstrating a lattice-matched condition with fewer periods than other materials.

Contribution

First demonstration of lattice-matched AlScN/GaN DBRs with high reflectivity, using fewer periods than traditional AlInN/GaN multilayers.

Findings

Achieved 98% reflectivity with 20 periods at 400 nm

Lattice-matched AlScN content at 11% Sc

Fewer periods needed compared to AlInN/GaN DBRs

Abstract

We demonstrate epitaxial lattice-matched Al$_{0.89}$Sc$_{0.11}$N/GaN ten and twenty period distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) grown on c-plane bulk n-type GaN substrates by plasma-enhanced molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE). Resulting from a rapid increase of in-plane lattice coefficient as scandium is incorporated into AlScN, we measure a lattice-matched condition to $c$-plane GaN for a Sc content of just 11\%, resulting in a large refractive index mismatch $\mathrm{\Delta n}$ greater than 0.3 corresponding to an index contrast of $\mathrm{\Delta n/n_{GaN}}$ = 0.12 with GaN. The DBRs demonstrated here are designed for a peak reflectivity at a wavelength of 400 nm reaching a reflectivity of 0.98 for twenty periods. It is highlighted that AlScN/GaN multilayers require fewer periods for a desired reflectivity than other lattice-matched Bragg reflectors such as those based on AlInN/GaN multilayers.