Growth and morphology of MOVPE grown InGaN/GaN islands

Abstract

AbstractThe dependence of the surface morphology on the growth temperature of InGaN/GaN(0001) samples grown by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy has been investigated using scanning probe microscopy. By lowering the growth temperature, the thermal diffusion of the InGaN is reduced which results in an increase of the island density. For 1.3 nm InGaN deposition at 650 °C, large spiral disc‐like InGaN islands with atomically flat top surfaces are observed which preferentially nucleate at GaN substrate defects. In contrast, InGaN growth at 600 °C leads to a homogeneous nucleation of small islands with a granular appearance. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)