Comparative study of GaN/AlGaN MQWs grown homoepitaxially on [formula omitted] and (0 0 0 1) GaN

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth 2003-04, Vol.251 (1), p.487-493
• Main Authors: Bhattacharyya, A., Friel, I, Iyer, S., Chen, T.-C., Li, W., Cabalu, J., Fedyunin, Y., Ludwig, K.F., Moustakas, T.D., Maruska, H.-P., Hill, D.W., Gallagher, J.J., Chou, M.C., Chai, B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: A1. Photoluminescence; A1. X-ray diffraction; A3. Chloride vapor phase epitaxy; A3. Molecular beam epitaxy; B1. Nitrides; B2. Semiconducting III–V materials; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Molecular, atomic, ion, and chemical beam epitaxy; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; Physics; Quantum wells
• ISSN: 0022-0248; 1873-5002
• DOI: 10.1016/S0022-0248(02)02433-8

Structural and optical properties of GaN/AlGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy on ( 1 1 ̄ 0 0 ) plane free-standing GaN substrates and (0 0 0 1) GaN quasi-substrates have been compared. Atomic force microscopy studies indicate that the films and MQW structures grown on both substrates replicate the surface morphology of the substrates. MQWs with AlGaN barriers grown in the presence of In flux have stronger photoluminescence (PL) intensity than those with AlGaN barriers without In. X-ray diffraction spectra of MQWs grown on the (0 0 0 1) GaN substrates show larger number of superlattices peaks than those grown on ( 1 1 ̄ 0 0 ) substrates suggesting that the former have smoother interfaces. The PL spectra of MQWs deposited on (0 0 0 1) GaN substrates, where the growth is in a polar direction, exhibit a red-shift as well as a decrease in peak intensity with increase in well widths. Similar MQW structures on the ( 1 1 ̄ 0 0 ) GaN, on which the growth is in a non-polar direction, do not exhibit this phenomenon, which we attribute to the absence of internal electric fields in these structures. PL intensity of MQWs with a well width of 75 Å is 20 times stronger for those grown on the ( 1 1 ̄ 0 0 ) plane than on the (0 0 0 1) plane GaN substrate.