Influence of the interface on growth rates in AlN/GaN short period superlattices via metal organic vapor phase epitaxy

Abstract

AlN/GaN short period superlattices are well suited for a number of applications including, but not limited to, digital alloys, intersubband devices, and emitters. In this work, AlN/GaN superlattices with periodicities ranging from 10 to 20 Å have been grown via metal organic vapor phase epitaxy in order to investigate the influence of the interface on the binary alloy growth rates. The GaN growth rate at the interface was observed to decrease with increasing GaN thickness while the AlN growth rate remained constant. This has been attributed to a decrease in the decomposition rate of GaN at the hetero-interface as seen in other III-V hetero-structures.