Thermodynamic analysis of group III nitrides grown by metal-organic vapour-phase epitaxy (MOVPE), hydride (or halide) vapour-phase epitaxy (HVPE) andmolecular beam epitaxy (MBE)

An analysis of element incorporation from a thermodynamic viewpoint is desc ribed for the vapour-phase epitaxy (metal-organic vapour-phase epitaxy (MOV PE), hydride (or halide) vapour-phase epitaxy (HVPE) and molecular beam epi taxy (MBE)) of group III nitrides. The driving force of binary nitrides and the vapour-solid distribution relationship for ternary and quaternary nitr ides are discussed. It is shown that the growth rate and alloy composition of group III nitrides are thermodynamically controlled. The thermodynamical ly predicted orders in which binary nitrides incorporate into alloys are ve ry similar for all epitaxial methods and the order is basically governed by the Gibbs free energy of formation of the binary nitrides irrespective of the growth method.