Abstract
Strain relaxation mechanisms in metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy grown (Al,Ga)N/GaN heterostructures are presented. Relaxation first occurs through a 2D–3D transition. For pure AlN, misfit a-type dislocations are introduced at the coalescence front of growth islands. For (Al,Ga)N (Al concentration≤70%), the second relaxation step is cracking. When cracked, relaxation of the films occurs by the introduction of long and straight a+c-type dislocations and small bowed a-type dislocation half-loops bordering the cracks. These two relaxing features lead for Al0.2Ga0.8N films above 2μm thick to full relaxation.
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Vennéguès, P., Bethoux, J.M., Bougrioua, Z., Azize, M., De Mierry, P., Tottereau, O. (2005). Strain relaxation in (Al,Ga)N/GaN heterostructures. In: Cullis, A.G., Hutchison, J.L. (eds) Microscopy of Semiconducting Materials. Springer Proceedings in Physics, vol 107. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg . https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31915-8_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31915-8_9
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