Self-Annihilation Of Inversion Domains By High Energy Defects In Iii-Nitrides

Low-defect density InN films were grown on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy over an similar to 1 mu m thick GaN/AlN buffer/nucleation layer. Electron microscopy observations revealed the presence of inverse polarity domains propagating across the GaN layer and terminating at the sharp GaN/InN (000 (1) over bar) interface, whereas no inversion domains were detected in InN. The systematic annihilation of GaN inversion domains at the GaN/InN interface is explained in terms of indium incorporation on the Ga-terminated inversion domains forming a metal bonded In-Ga bilayer, a structural instability known as the basal inversion domain boundary, during the initial stages of InN growth on GaN. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.