Effect of the substrate pretreatment on the epitaxial growth of indium nitride

The influence of the substrate pretreatment on crystallinity of indium nitr ide films grown on (111)GaAs by radio frequency sputtering were investigate d. It was shown that the crystalline quality of InN layers grown on GaAs ca n be improved by presputtering the substrate in nitrogen plasma prior to th e growth. By Auger electron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy analys is we revealed that GaN islands form on the surface of GaAs substrate due t o the presputtering. The optimum presputtering time for growing InN single crystal was assessed to be the time at which GaN islands cover the substrat e surface entirely. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.