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In the growth of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) structures, a novel defect (called the “V-defect”) initiates at threading dislocations in one of the first quantum wells in a MQW stack. This defect is common to almost all InGaN MQW heterostructures. The nature of the V-defect was evaluated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning TEM (STEM), and low-temperature cathodoluminescence (CL) on a series of In0.20Ga0.80N/GaN MQW samples. The structure of the V-defect includes buried side-wall quantum wells (on the {101̄1} planes) and an open hexagonal inverted pyramid which is defined by the six {101̄1} planes. Thus, in cross section this defect appears as an open “V”. The formation of the V-defect is kinetically controlled by reduced Ga incorporation on the pyramid walls ({101̄1} planes). The V-defect is correlated with the localized excitonic recombination centers that give rise to a long-wavelength shoulder in photoluminescence (PL) and CL spectra. This long-wavelength shoulder has the following characteristics: (i) its intensity is correlated with the side-wall quantum wells; (ii) the temperature independence of the full width at half maximum strongly supports a localized exciton recombination process.

Defect structures were investigated by transmission electron microscopy for GaN/Al2O3 (0001) epilayers grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition using a two-step process. The defect structures, including threading dislocations, partial dislocation bounding stacking faults, and inversion domains, were analyzed by diffraction contrast, high-resolution imaging, and convergent beam diffraction. GaN film growth was initiated at 600 °C with a nominal 20 nm nucleation layer. This was followed by high-temperature growth at 1080 °C. The near-interfacial region of the films consists of a mixture of cubic and hexagonal GaN, which is characterized by a high density of stacking faults bounded by Shockley and Frank partial dislocations. The near-interfacial region shows a high density of inversion domains. Above ∼0.5 μm thickness, the film consists of isolated threading dislocations of either pure edge, mixed, or pure screw character with a total density of ∼7×108 cm−2. The threading dislocation reduction in these films is associated with cubic to hexagonal transformation of the nucleation layer region during high temperature growth.

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