Suppression of indium droplet formation by adding CCl4 during metalorganic chemical vapor deposition growth of InN films

In this work, the influences of CCl4 on the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth of InN were studied for the first time. It was found that the addition of CCl4 can effectively suppress the formation of metal indium (In) droplets during InN growth, which was ascribed to the etching effect of Cl to In. However, with increasing of CCl4 flow, the InN growth rate decreased but the lateral growth of InN islands was enhanced. This provides a possibility of promoting islands coalescence toward a smooth surface of the InN film by MOCVD. The influence of addition of CCl4 on the electrical properties was also investigated.

National Natural Science Fund of China 60506001 6057600360776047National Basic Research Program 2007CB936700 This work is supported by the National Natural Science Fund of China (grant nos 60506001 60576003 and 60776047) and National Basic Research Program (2007CB936700). The authors would like to thank the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF) for the assistance in materials characterization.