Compositional inhomogeneity and immiscibility of a GaInN ternary alloy

Abstract

Compositional inhomogeneity in a GaInN ternary alloy layer is investigated. A theoretical estimation of the interaction parameter based on the delta lattice parameter suggests that the immiscibility of InN in a nitride alloy is very strong. We investigate the compositional splitting and the existence of InN inclusion in the GaInN epilayer grown on sapphire (0001) substrates. The mechanism of compositional inhomogeneity is discussed.