MOCVD Growth of Ga(Al)N/InGaN/Ga(Al)N-Heterostructures: Influence of the Buffer Layer Al-Concentration and Growth Duration on the In-Incorporation in InGaN

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been applied to analyze the thickness and the In-concentration of InGaN layers in GaN/InGaN/GaN- and AlGaN/InGaN/AlGaN-quantum well (QW) structures. Two series of samples were grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition varying either only the growth duration for the InGaN QW or by changing the Al- concentration in the buffer layers at unaltered InGaN growth conditions. A rising average In- concentration from 6.5 to 15.4 % and a decreasing growth rate are observed with increasing growth duration. The increase of the Al-concentration in the buffer layers from 0 to 36 % strongly affects the In-incorporation during the InGaN growth, which decreases from 17.5 to 2.5 %. All samples are characterized by an inhomogeneous In-distribution containing In-rich agglomerates with a size of only a few nanometers and less pronounced composition fluctuations on a scale of 100 nm.