Raman studies on phonon modes in cubic AlGaN alloy

Cubic AlxGa1−xN alloy layers have been successfully grown for x=0−1 by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy on cubic-SiC/Si substrates, and the compositional dependence of the transverse-optic (TO) and longitudinal-optic (LO) phonon modes has been studied by Raman scattering. The LO-mode frequency of mixed crystals shows a systematic variation from the pure cubic AlN phase to the cubic GaN phase (one-mode type). On the contrary, there are two branches for the TO mode varying slowly in frequency with the composition (two-mode type). This behavior is explained within a random-element-isodisplacement model including the effect of polarization field. Our result indicates a strong polarization field acting on the cation-nitrogen bonds.