Correlation between structural and electrical properties of InN thin films prepared by molecular beam epitaxy

The strain-relaxation phenomena and the formation of a dislocation network in 2H-InN epilayers during molecular beam epitaxy are reported. The proposed growth model emphasizes the dominant role of the coalescence process in the formation of a dislocation network in 2H-InN. Edge type threading dislocations and dislocations of mixed character have been found to be the dominating defects in wurtzite InN layers. It is demonstrated that these dislocations are active suppliers of electrons and an exponential decay of their density with the thickness implies a corresponding decay in the carrier density. Room temperature mobility in excess of 1500 cm² V ⁻¹ s⁻¹ was obtained for 800 nm thick InN layers with dislocation densities of 3×10⁹ cm⁻².