Stress analysis of AlxGa1−xN films with microcracks

Thick AlxGa1−xN epilayer with microcracks grown by metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy on a GaN buffer above a (0001) sapphire substrate was comprehensively characterized by spatially and spectrally resolved cathodoluminescence (CL) and micro-Raman (μ-Raman) spectroscopy. The variation of the CL line shift and the μ-Raman measurements between the microcracks are consistent with the interpretation that AlGaN is to a large extent stressed like a two dimensional film between the microcracks with nearly full relaxation close to the cracks. A satisfactory theoretical confirmation of this stress distribution was obtained by a three-dimensional finite-element application of the elasticity theory.