The influence of hydrogen admixture in the carrier gas on aluminum gallium nitride growth in halide vapor phase epitaxy

This study explores the impact of hydrogen admixture in the nitrogen carrier gas on the growth of aluminum gallium nitride layers using halide vapor phase epitaxy. Thermodynamic modeling was used to estimate supersaturation for gallium nitride and aluminium nitride formation for different hydrogen admixtures. Simulations showed that hydrogen suppresses gallium nitride crystallization while having minimal influence on aluminum nitride. Growth experiments with 0 % and 10 % hydrogen in the carrier gas confirmed this model: aluminum content increased from 3.6 at.% to 11.4 at.% with a corresponding drop in growth rate from 13.5 μm/h to 4.5 μm/h. Additional experiments were conducted with optimized precursor flows and extended durations, ultimately resulting in the growth of a 60 μm-thick aluminum-gallium nitride layer containing 8.4 at.% aluminum content. These findings validate the simulation model and demonstrate that hydrogen can serve as an important parameter during bulk growth of aluminum gallium nitride. The process developed in this work represents a step toward the production of thick, compositionally controlled aluminum gallium nitride layers, supporting future efforts to fabricate free-standing substrates through iterative seed removal and regrowth.This dataset contains experimental data and thermodynamic modeling results related to the growth of aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) layers by halide vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). The dataset includes aluminum composition measurements (EDS), growth rate and layer thickness data, process parameters (gas flows, V/III ratio, R parameter), AlCl3 synthesis efficiency data, and numerical data used to prepare Figure 4 presented in the publication. The data correspond to four experiments with varying hydrogen admixture in the carrier gas (0% and 10% H2). The dataset supports the conclusions presented in the associated publication regarding the influence of hydrogen on GaN suppression and Al incorporation. The attached files contain measurement data presented in the publication, including experimental results, tables used for analysis, and data for plotting Figure 4.