Electron-carrier generation by edge dislocations in InN films: First-principles study

Electronic structures of edge dislocations in InN films are studied using the first-principles calculation. We found that dangling-bond states of In atoms localized in the dislocation core are located above the conduction-band bottom and thus supplies the electron carriers to the conduction band of bulk InN, in agreement with the experimental suggestion by Wang et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett. 90 (2007) 151901]. Moreover, it is shown that the Fermi energy in the conduction band has the tendency to be pinned at the energy positions of N-related dangling-bond states.