Effect of hydrogen on the indium incorporation in InGaN epitaxial films

Abstract

The InN percent in metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) grown InGaN was found to be significantly influenced by the amount of hydrogen flowing into the reactor. The temperature ranges for this study are 710–780 °C for MOCVD, and 650–700 °C for ALE. For a given set of growth conditions, an increase of up to 25% InN in InGaN, as determined by x-ray diffraction, can be achieved by reducing the hydrogen flow from 100 to 0 sccm. Additionally, the hydrogen produced from the decomposition of ammonia does not seem to change the InN percent in the films, indicating that the ammonia decomposition rate is less than 0.1%. The phenomenon of having hydrogen control the indium incorporation was not reported in the growth of any other III–V compound previously studied.