Room-temperature heteroepitaxy of single-phase Al1 − xInxN films with full composition range on isostructural wurtzite templates

Al1 − xInxN heteroepitaxial layers covering the full composition range have been realized by magnetron sputter epitaxy on basal-plane AlN, GaN, and ZnO templates at room temperature (RT). Both Al1 − xInxN single layers and multilayers grown on these isostructural templates show single phase, single crystal wurtzite structure. Even at large lattice mismatch between the film and the template, for instance InN/AlN (~ 13% mismatch), heteroepitaxy is achieved. However, RT-grown Al1 − xInxN films directly deposited on non-isostructural c-plane sapphire substrate exhibit a polycrystalline structure for all compositions, suggesting that substrate surface structure is important for guiding the initial nucleation. Degradation of Al1 − xInxN structural quality with increasing indium content is attributed to the formation of more point- and structural defects. The defects result in a prominent hydrostatic tensile stress component, in addition to the biaxial stress component introduced by lattice mismatch, in all RT-grown Al1 − xInxN films. These effects are reflected in the measured in-plane and out-of-plane strains. The effect of hydrostatic stress is negligible compared to the effects of lattice mismatch in high-temperature grown AlN layers thanks to their low amount of defects. We found that Vegard’s rule is applicable to determine x in the RT-grown Al1 − xInxN epilayers if the lattice constants of RT-sputtered AlN and InN films are used instead of those of the strain-free bulk materials.

► Magnetron sputter epitaxy of single-phase Al1 − xInxN(0001) at room temperature
► Growing Al1 − xInxN onto temperature sensitive substrates is desirable.
► Substrate surface structure plays a vital role at nucleation stage.
► Point and extended defects produce hydrostatic tensile stress.
► The applicability of Vegard's rule for these compounds is confirmed.