Epitaxial growth and characterization of non-polar a-plane AlGaN films with MgN/AlGaN insertion layers

The MgN/AlGaN insertion layers were applied for the first time in the growth of non-polar a-plane AlGaN epi-layers by metal organic chemical vapor deposition technology. The full-width-at-half-maximum value of X-ray rocking curve for the a-plane AlGaN epi-layer was decreased by approximately 50.6% and the root-mean-square value of the surface was reduced by 74% by inserting the MgN/AlGaN insertion layers with optimized number of insertion pairs, which revealed that the compressive strain within the a-plane AlGaN epi-layers was effectively reduced, leading to significant improvements in crystalline quality and surface morphology, which is very helpful to fabricate high quality AlGaN-based ultraviolet light-emitting-diodes.