A complex study was performed on a set of AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistor structures grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy on miscut Si(111) wafers with a highly resistive epitaxial Si layer to investigate the influence of substrate miscut on their properties. The results showed that wafer misorientation had an influence on the strain evolution during the growth and surface morphology, and could have a strong impact on the mobility of 2D electron gas, with a weak optimum at 0.5° miscut angle. A numerical analysis revealed that the interface roughness was a main parameter responsible for the variation in electron mobility.
Keywords: AlGaN; HEMT; MOVPE; Si; carrier mobility; miscut.