Preferential incorporation of substitutional nitrogen near the atomic step edges in diluted nitride alloys
Résumé
We have investigated the influence of the surface roughness on nitrogen incorporation during the molecular beam epitaxy of diluted nitrides, independently of the other growth parameters. GaPN/GaP layers grown simultaneously on surfaces displaying different roughnesses reveal a large difference in nitrogen incorporation despite the same growth temperature and growth rate. The same difference is found on quasi-lattice-matched GaAsPN demonstrating that the phenomenon is not related to any strain-induced mechanisms. The tendency is clearly confirmed when varying the growth conditions. As a direct consequence, the incorporation of substitutional nitrogen near the atomic step edges is found to be 6.7 times more probable than the in-plane nitrogen incorporation. The formation of N-Ni clusters and their stability on the surface is discussed.