Pulsed atomic layer epitaxy of quaternary AlInGaN layers

In this letter, we report on a material deposition scheme for quaternary Al xInyGa1-x-yN layers using a pulsed atomic layer epitaxy (PALE) technique. T he PALE approach allows accurate control of the quaternary layer compositio n and thickness by simply changing the number of aluminum, indium, and gall ium pulses in a unit cell and the number of unit cell repeats. Using PALE, AlInGaN layers with Al mole fractions in excess of 40% and strong room-temp erature photoluminescence peaks at 280 nm can easily be grown even at tempe ratures lower than 800 degreesC. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.