Published in MRS Internet J. Nitride Semicond. Res. 4S1, G9.5 (1999).

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Studies of InGaN Growth by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Huajie Chen,* A. R. Smith,* R. M. Feenstra,* D. W. Greve,** and J. E. Northrup***
*Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
**Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
***Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 3333 Coyote Hill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304

Abstract

InGaN alloys with indium compositions ranging from 0-40% have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The dependence of the indium incorporation on growth temperature and group III/group V ratio has been studied. Scanning tunneling microscopy images, interpreted using first-principles theoretical computations, show that there is strong indium surface segregation on InGaN. Based on this surface segregation, a qualitative model is proposed to explain the observed indium incorporation dependence on the growth parameters.

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