Initial experiments in the migration enhanced afterglow growth of gallium and indium nitride

Some initial results are presented for gallium nitride and indium nitride thin films grown on c-plane sapphire using a prototype migration enhanced afterglow (MEAglow) system. Smooth surfaces of less than 1 nm root mean square surface roughness have been achieved for both InN and GaN films at growth temperatures of 450-560 °C and 665 °C respectively. This result is attributed to the increased adatom diffusion length allowed for the metal species during the growth process. Thicker GaN layers can now be grown than those previously reported. For InN, an impressive full width half maximum value of 290 arcsec has been achieved for the (0002) reflection using ω-2θ X-ray diffraction scans. Greater progress has so far been achieved for the growth of InN films because of the relative ease with which thick layers of indium metal can be nitrided to form a good quality layer.