Pierwszy objętościowy kryształ AlGaN dla wydajnych emiterów promieniowania UV - przełamanie barier krystalizacji z wykorzystaniem zarodzi GaN o najwyższej jakości strukturalnej

SONATA 16 is a project implemented by the National Science Center, targeting scientists who have obtained their PhD degree within 2 to 7 years prior to the year of application. Applicants have the opportunity to seek funding for basic research projects with durations of 12, 24, or 36 months. This initiative underscores the commitment of the National Science Center to support fundamental research and assist in the professional development of early-career researchers.

Project goal

The main goal of this project is to investigate the crystallization process of thick layers of aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) by HVPE method and demonstrating, first time in the world, a free-standing AlGaN crystal of very high structural quality. Gallium nitride (GaN) seeds of the highest structural quality will be used in the crystal growth processes. The deposited AlGaN layers, up to 300-μm-thick, should be crack-free with a uniform Al composition reaching 30%. They are necessary for fabricating 300 nm UV emitters.

International collaboration

• Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF), Freiburg, Germany
• Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, Leti, Grenoble, France

Publications

Project results have been published in:

• Jaroszynska, A.; Dabrowski, M.; Sadovy, P.; Bockowski, M.; Czernecki, R.; Sochacki, T. On Morphology of Aluminum–Gallium Nitride Layers Grown by Halide Vapor Phase Epitaxy: The Role of Total Reactants’ Pressure and Ammonia Flow Rate. Materials 2024, 17, 3446.
  https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17143446
• Arianna Jaroszynska, Petro Sadovyi, Karol Pozyczka, Michal Fijalkowski, Pawel Kempisty, Robert Kucharski, Michal Bockowski, Tomasz Sochacki, The influence of hydrogen admixture in the carrier gas on aluminum gallium nitride growth in halide vapor phase epitaxy, Journal of Crystal Growth 671 (2025) 128372.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2025.128372
• Lutz Kirste, Thu Nhi Tran-Caliste, Tomasz Sochacki, Jan L. Weyher, Patrik Stranak, Robert Kucharski, Karolina Grabianska, Jos´e Baruchel, Michal Bockowski, Bragg diffraction imaging characterization of crystal defects in GaN (0001) substrates: Comparison of the growth method and the seed approach. Progress in Crystal Growth and Characterization of Materials 71 (2025) 100668.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcrysgrow.2025.100668
• Kirste, L.; Tran-Caliste, T.; Sochacki, T.; Weyher, J.; Stranák, P.; Kucharski, R.; Grabianska, K.; Baruchel, J.; Bockowski, M. Bragg diffraction imaging characterization of crystal defects in GaN (0001) substrates: Comparison of the growth method and the seed approach. Progress in Crystal Growth and Characterization of Materials 2025, 71 (3), 100668.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcrysgrow.2025.100668
• Kucharski, R.; Grabianska, K.; Zajac, M. A.; Sadovyi, P.; Stranak, P.; Kirste, L.; Ammar, M.; Rochat, N.; Borowik, L.; Bockowski, M.; Sochacki, T. First Bulk AlGaN Crystals Grown by the Basic Ammonothermal Method. Crystal Growth and Design 2026.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00597

Submitted patents

none

Professor

none

PhD theses

none

Master theses

Defended master thesis at the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw University of Technology:

• Crystallization of gallium-aluminum nitride (AlxGa1-xN) thin films by halide vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) method – M. Dąbrowski

Lectures

Project results have been presented by:

• 2023 – International Conference on Crystal Growth and Epitaxy (ICCGE-20) – Naples, Italy (30 July - 4 August) – T. Sochacki – contributed talk – “Preliminary studies on halide vapor phase epitaxy of AlGaN alloy on GaN substrates”
• 2023 – 14th International Conference on Nitride Semiconductors (ICNS-14) – Fukuoka, Japan (12-17 November) – T. Sochacki – contributed talk – “Preliminary Studies on Halide Vapor Phase Epitaxy of AlGaN Alloy on GaN Substrates”
• 2024 – 8th European Conference on Crystal Growth (ECCG8) – Warsaw, Poland (21-25 July) – A. Jaroszyńska – contributed talk – “Growth of AlGaN layers on GaN substrates using Halide Vapor Phase Epitaxy technology: Road to novel nitride”
• 2024 – European Materials Research Society (E-MRS 2024 Fall Meeting) – Warsaw, Poland (16-19 September) – A. Jaroszyńska – contributed talk – “Halide Vapor Phase Epitaxy of AlGaN: Perspectives for the development of novel nitride substrates”
• 2024 – 12th International Workshop on Nitride Semiconductors (IWN 2024) – O’ahu, Hawai’i, USA (3-8 November) – A. Jaroszyńska – contributed talk – “Halide Vapor Phase Epitaxy of AlxGa1-xN: Perspectives for the development of novel nitride substrates”
  
• 2025 – 15th International Conference on Nitride Semiconductors (ICNS-15) – Malmö, Sweden (6-11 July) – T. Sochacki – contributed talk – “Perspectives on the Growth of AlxGa1-xN Alloy by the Ammonothermal Method”
• 2025 – 15th International Conference on Nitride Semiconductors (ICNS-15) – Malmö, Sweden (6-11 July) – A. Jaroszyńska – contributed talk – “Analyzing the influence of hydrogen on AlGaN layer growth by Halide Vapor Phase Epitaxy”
• 2025 – 15th International Conference on Nitride Semiconductors (ICNS-15) – Malmö, Sweden (6-11 July) – A. Jaroszyńska – contributed talk – “The challenges of AlGaN growth in Halide Vapor Phase Epitaxy”
• 2025 – 8th International Symposium on Growth of III-Nitrides (ISGN-8) – Tainan, Taiwan (9-12 November) – T. Sochacki – contributed talk – “Ammonothermal Growth of Bulk AlxGa1-xN: Current Achievements and Perspectives for Crystal Development”
• 2025 – 8th International Symposium on Growth of III-Nitrides (ISGN-8) – Tainan, Taiwan (9-12 November) – A. Jaroszyńska – poster – “AlxGa1-xN growth by Halide Vapor Phase Epitaxy”
• 2026 – International Conference on Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (ICMOVPE XXII) – Jeju, South Korea (12-17 July) – P. Prystawko – contributed talk – “Homoepitaxial Growth of AlGaN Drift Layers on Bulk Ammonothermal GaN and AlGaN Substrates”
• 2026 – European Materials Research Society (E-MRS Fall Meeting 2026) – Warsaw, Poland (14-17 September) – T. Sochacki – contributed talk – “First Ammonothermal Bulk AlGaN Crystal: Growth and Characterization”
• 2026 – European Materials Research Society (E-MRS Fall Meeting 2026) – Warsaw, Poland (14-17 September) – T. Sochacki – contributed talk – “Growth-Mode-Induced Defects in Bulk GaN Crystals”
• 2027 – ISPlasma2027 – Nagoya University, Japan (2-6 March) – T. Sochacki – invited talk – ammonothermal crystallization of GaN and related growth technologies
• 2027 – SPIE Photonics West 2027 (OPTO) – Gallium Nitride Materials and Devices conference, San Francisco, USA (30 January - 4 February) – T. Sochacki – invited talk – “Toward Bulk AlGaN by HVPE: Challenges, Limitations, and the Role of Ammonothermal Seeds”