Surface morphology and composition studies in InGaN/GaN film grown by MOCVD

InGaN films were deposited on (0001) sapphire substrates with GaN buffer layers under different growth temperatures by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The In-composition of InGaN film was approximately controlled by changing the growth temperature. The connection between the growth temperature, In content, surface morphology and defect formation was obtained by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Meanwhile, by comparing the SEM and AFM surface morphology images, we proposed several models of three different defects and discussed the mechanism of formation. The prominent effect of higher growth temperature on the quality of the InGaN films and defect control were found by studying InGaN films at various growth temperatures.