Studies on dislocation and surface morphology of AlxGa1−xN/GaN heterostructures grown by MOCVD

In this work, AlxGa1−xN epilayers have been grown on sapphire substrate with GaN template by the metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method. The structural and morphological properties of these samples have been investigated and compared. The growth rate of AlGaN has been found to decrease with increasing Al composition. By increasing Al composition of AlGaN epilayer, tilt and twist angle has been found to increase, indicating higher threading dislocation density. Surface morphology and dislocation density (DD) have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Different types of dislocation etch pits have been observed in AlxGa1−xN/GaN epilayers, using orthophosphoric acid (85% H3PO4) as defect selective etchant. Three types of etch pits like screw type (α), edge type (β) and mixed type (α + β) dislocations have been observed. The mechanism of etch pits formation has been explained using Cabrera's thermodynamic model. The etch pit density (EPDs) has been correlated with threading dislocation density (TDs) estimated using HRXRD measurements. Photoluminescence (PL) studies have revealed an increase in intensity of near band edge emission due to etching.