Effect of barrier growth temperature on morphological evolution of green InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well heterostructures

Surface morphology of green InGaN/GaN multi-quantum wells (MQWs) on a sapphire substrate with various high temperature grown GaN barriers has been evaluated. Keeping the InGaN well growth temperature constant at 740 degrees C, a series of MQWs were grown with GaN barrier temperatures varied up to 910 degrees C. GaN barriers grown below 800 degrees C lead to the generation of a high density of V-defects and inclusions embedded within V-defects as observed by atomic force microscopy. Scanning electron microscopy and cathodoluminescence (CL) studies revealed that the embedded inclusions are of two kinds: one of them appears as bright spots in CL mapping while the other appears as the surrounding region. Temperature ramping and subsequent interruption for GaN barrier growth suppresses both kinds of inclusion defects and also significantly reduces the V-defect density. An inclusion-free smooth surface is obtained for green emitting InGaN/GaN MQWs with the GaN barrier grown at 910 degrees C.