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Comprehensive Analysis of Surface Morphology and Growth Mode of AlInGaN Films
Author(s) -
Laurent Matthew A.,
Keller Stacia,
Mishra Umesh K.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
physica status solidi (a)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1862-6319
pISSN - 1862-6300
DOI - 10.1002/pssa.201800523
Subject(s) - hillock , supersaturation , nucleation , materials science , chemical vapor deposition , growth rate , morphology (biology) , crystal (programming language) , spiral (railway) , crystal growth , nanotechnology , chemistry , crystallography , composite material , geometry , computer science , mathematical analysis , mathematics , organic chemistry , biology , genetics , programming language
This study presents a systematic characterization of AlInGaN films grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition as a function of thickness, V‐III ratio, temperature, growth rate, and composition. The AlInGaN films grown in this study exhibited features of the spiral growth mode, whose characteristic hillock features may be described by the theory of crystal growth by Burton, Cabrera, and Frank (BCF theory). According to BCF theory, an increase in the driving force for the vapor‐to‐solid phase transition (moving further from equilibrium) result in a higher density of spiral growth hillocks with smaller radii of curvature. The spiral growth mode is first observed in the III‐N material system for the growth of MBE‐grown GaN and occurs under highly non‐equilibrium growth conditions. Adjusting the vapor phase supersaturation via growth parameters, and therefore the driving force, have effects on the morphology consistent with BCF theory. It is found that, over a wide compositional range, very smooth AlInGaN films can be achieved with a morphology dominated by densely packed spiral growth hillocks. For very high AlN crystal fraction, high V/III ratio, or low temperature, the AlInGaN films exhibited a 2‐D island nucleation growth mode.