Growth and Characterization of Single Crystalline InN Grown on GaN by RF Sputtering for Robust Schottky Contacts

High-quality, single crystal wurtzite InN films were fabricated by radio-frequency magnetron reactive sputtering on GaN templates. The sputtered InN films in this study were about 100 nm thick. Atomic force microscopy analysis revealed the sputtered InN film had root-mean-square surface roughness of about 0.4 nm, which is comparable to the underlying GaN template. Coupled x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements confirmed the (0001) preferred growth orientation and ω-rocking curve full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) = 0.85° for the symmetrical (0002) diffraction peak. The present InN film has the best crystal quality in terms of narrower FWHM of XRD rocking curve among reported sputtered InN thin films. In-plane and out-of-plane XRD measurements revealed a relaxed film. Room temperature Hall Effect measurements showed mobility of 110 cm2/V.s and electron concentration of 1–2 × 1020/cm3. The feasibility of utilizing a cost effective and productive method of sputtering to form robust Schottky contacts to GaN using InN, an immiscible and metallic-like semiconductor, was explored.