Critical impact of Ehrlich-Schwöbel barrier on GaN surface morphology during homoepitaxial growth

Kaufmann, Nils A.K. and Lahourcade, L. and Hourahine, B. and Martin, D. and Grandjean, N. (2016) Critical impact of Ehrlich-Schwöbel barrier on GaN surface morphology during homoepitaxial growth. Journal of Crystal Growth, 433. pp. 36-42. ISSN 0022-0248 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2015.06.013)

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Abstract

We discuss the impact of kinetics, and in particular the effect of the Ehrlich-Schwöbel barrier (ESB), on the growth and surface morphology of homoepitaxial GaN layers. The presence of an ESB can lead to various self-assembled surface features, which strongly affect the surface roughness. We present an in-depth study of this phenomenon on GaN homoepitaxial layers grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy and molecular beam epitaxy. We show how a proper tuning of the growth parameters allows for the control of the surface morphology, independent of the growth technique.