High mobility InN epilayers grown on AlN epilayer templates

We report on the growth of InN epilayers on AlN/sapphire templates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Compared to InN epilayers grown on GaN templates, significant improvements in the electrical and optical properties of InN epilayers on AlN templates were observed. An increase in electron mobility, a decrease in background electron concentration, and a redshift of photoluminescence emission peak position with increasing the growth temperature and V/III ratio were observed and a room temperature Hall mobility of 1400 cm2 V s with a free electron concentration of about 7× 1018 cm-3 was obtained. The improvements were partly attributed to the use of AlN templates, which allows for higher growth temperatures leading to an enhanced supply of nitrogen atoms and a possible reduction in the incorporation of unintentional impurities and nitrogen vacancy related defects.