Effect of polarity on the growth of InN films by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

The effect of surface polarity on InN growth on GaN by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) was investigated. The polarity of the InN was found to follow that of the initial GaN template as determined by a comparison of experimental and simulated convergent beam electron diffraction patterns. Under identical MOCVD growth conditions, In-polar InN was observed to nucleate and grow on Ga-polar GaN as pyramidal-shaped islands with (I Of 1) as the stable surface facet. In contrast, enhanced lateral growth and reduced surface roughness were observed for N-polar InN grown on N-polar GaN. InN films grown on (0001) sapphire substrates using a thin AlN buffer under identical conditions to those used for growth on the GaN templates also exhibited reduced surface roughnesses and were determined to be N polar. A qualitative model based on the difference in surface terminations and crystal structures is proposed to explain the observed differences in the structural properties and growth modes of the In-polar and N-polar InN films. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.