Dislocation Behavior in AlGaN/GaN Multiple Quantum-Well Films Grown with Different Interlayers

Dislocation behaviors are analyzed in AlGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well films grown with different strain-modified interlayers. In the case of multiple-quantum-well layers grown on a GaN buffer layer without the interlayer, many threading dislocations interact and annihilate within about 100 nm below the multiple quantum well layer. For multiple-quantum-well layers grown with the AlGaN interlayer, misfit dislocations between the GaN buffer layer and the AlGaN interlayer enter multiple-quantum-well layers and result in an increase of threading dislocation density. Besides misfit dislocations, the edge-type dislocation is another dislocation origin attributed to the dissociation of Shockley partials bounding the stacking fault in AlN/GaN superlattices below the interlayer interface.