Metal-polar, Al-rich AlGaN films were grown on both single crystalline AlN and sapphire substrates. The role of surface morphology and surface kinetics on AlGaN composition is presented. With the reduced dislocation density of the films grown on AlN substrates, atomically smooth bilayer stepped surfaces are achieved with RMS roughness of less than 50 pm for a 5x5 µm 2 AFM scan area. By controlling the surface supersaturation through adjusting the growth rate, a transition from 2D nucleation to step flow was observed. The critical misorientation angle for step-bunching in nominal Al 0.70 Ga 0.30 N grown with a growth rate of 600 nm/hr on AlN substrates was found to be 0.4°. The composition of bilayer stepped AlGaN was strongly dependent on substrate misorientation angle, where a compositional variation by a factor of two for a change in misorientation angle from 0.05 to 0.40° was observed; this is explained by the different surface diffusion lengths of Ga and Al. Step-bunching resulted in strong compositional inhomogeneity as observed by photoluminescence and scanning transmission electron microscopy studies.

Surface states and their influence on the Fermi level at the surface of GaN and AlN are studied using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effect of polarity on surface electronic properties was studied. Accurate modeling of the valence band edge and comparison with XPS data revealed the presence of donor surface states at 1.4 eV and acceptor states at energies >2.7 eV from the valence band in GaN. Al polar AlN showed acceptor states at energies >3.3 eV. Density of acceptor surface states was estimated to be between 1013 and 1014 eV−1 cm−2 in both GaN and AlN. The shift in charge neutrality levels and barrier heights due to polarity and the density of surface states on AlN and GaN were estimated from XPS measurements. Theoretical modeling and comparison with XPS data implied full compensation of spontaneous polarization charge by charged surface states. Barrier height measurements also reveal a dependence on polarity with ϕmetal-polar > ϕnon-polar > ϕnitrogen-polar suggesting that the N-polar surface is the most suitable for Ohmic contacts.

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The control of the polarity of metalorganic chemical vapor deposition grown AlN on sapphire is demonstrated. Al-polar and N-polar AlN is grown side-by-side yielding a lateral polarity structure. Scanning electron microscopy measurements reveal a smooth surface for the Al-polar and a relatively rough surface for the N-polar AlN domains. Transmission electron microscopy shows mixed edge-screw type dislocations with polarity-dependent dislocation bending. Raman spectroscopy reveals compressively strained Al-polar and relaxed N-polar domains. The near band edge luminescence consists of free and bound excitons which are broadened for the Al-polar AlN. Relaxation, better optical quality, and dislocation bending in the N-polar domains are explained by the columnar growth mode.