Segregation of In to Dislocations in InGaN

MK Horton and S Rhode and SL Sahonta and MJ Koppers and SJ Haigh and TJ Pennycook and CJ Humphreys and RO Dusane and MA Moram, NANO LETTERS, 15, 923-930 (2015).

DOI: 10.1021/nl5036513

Dislocations are one-dimensional topological defects that occur frequently in functional thin film materials and that are known to degrade the performance of InxGa1-xN-based optoelectronic devices. Here, we show that large local deviations in alloy composition and atomic structure are expected to occur in and around dislocation cores in InxGa1-xN alloy thin films. We present energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy data supporting this result. The methods presented here are also widely applicable for predicting composition fluctuations associated with strain fields in other inorganic functional material thin films.

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