Vacancy-type defects in InxGa1−xN grown on GaN templates probed using monoenergetic positron beams

Native defects in InxGa1−xN layers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition were studied using monoenergetic positron beams. Measurements of Doppler broadening spectra of the annihilation radiation and lifetime spectra of positrons for a 200-nm-thick In0.13Ga0.87N layer showed that vacancy-type defects were introduced by InN alloying, and the major species of such defects was identified as complexes between a cation vacancy and nitrogen vacancies. The presence of the defects correlated with lattice relaxation of the In0.13Ga0.87N layer and the increase in photon emissions from donor-acceptor-pair recombination. The species of native defects in In0.06Ga0.94N layers was the same but its concentration was decreased by decreasing the InN composition. With the layer thickness increased from 120 nm to 360 nm, a defect-rich region was introduced in the subsurface region (<160 nm), which can be associated with layer growth with the relaxation of compressive stress.