Self-activated growth of cubic AlScN films from molecular nitrogen without plasma
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075307_1_5.0322931.pdf
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Author(s)
Savant, Chandrashekhar
Singh, Rishabh
Nguyen, Thai-Son
Casamento, Joseph
Xing, Huili
Jena, Debdeep
Date Issued
February 20, 2026
Journal
Journal of Applied Physics
Publisher
AIP Publishing
Citation
Chandrashekhar Savant, Rishabh Singh, Thai-Son Nguyen, Joseph Casamento, Huili Grace Xing, Debdeep Jena; Self-activated growth of cubic AlScN films from molecular nitrogen without plasma. J. Appl. Phys. 21 February 2026; 139 (7): 075307.
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Final published version
Abstract
Self-activated growth of ScN was recently reported owing to the ability of scandium to self-catalyze N 2 bond breaking, facilitating nitride film growth from molecular N 2 without plasma. In this report, we expand this novel synthesis method to explore the possibility of self-activated growth of aluminum-scandium-nitride, an emerging ternary nitride system with enhanced functionalities. We find that the rock salt AlScN film growth of low Al composition from 0% to 48% is possible by self-activated growth. The cubic rock salt AlScN films are phase pure up to 21% Al, whereas mixed rock salt AlScN and intermetallic cubic Al x Sc phases appear in films with 28% to 48% Al. Self-activated nitride crystal growth was not observed for films grown with high Al content of 93.7% and 100% Al, which showed cubic Al x Sc and FCC α-Al phases, respectively, without any sign of nitrogen incorporation. Lattice parameters of crystalline rock salt AlScN films decrease with increasing Al composition. The self-activated AlScN films, as well as cubic Al x Sc and FCC α-Al phase, exhibit twinning and are epitaxial to the 6H-SiC substrate. The findings open up new avenues for the ultralow-energy synthesis of ternary nitrides and beyond.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0322931
