In situ resonant x-ray study of vertical correlation and capping e ects during GaN/AlN quantum dots growth

TL;DR

This study uses in situ resonant x-ray scattering to investigate the growth, strain, and vertical correlation of GaN/AlN quantum dots during molecular beam epitaxy, revealing strain effects and QD alignment behaviors.

Contribution

It introduces in situ grazing incidence anomalous x-ray scattering techniques to analyze strain and vertical correlation in GaN/AlN quantum dots during growth.

Findings

Vertical correlation of QDs observed during growth.

Strain influences QD width and alignment.

AlN capping affects QD vertical positioning.

Abstract

Grazing incidence anomalous x-ray scattering was used to monitor in situ the molecular beam epitaxy growth of GaN/AlN quantum dots (QDs). The strain state was studied by means of grazing incidence Multi-wavelength Anomalous Di raction (MAD) in both the QDs and the AlN during the progressive coverage of QDs by AlN monolayers. Vertical correlation in the position of the GaN QDs was also studied by both grazing incidence MAD and anomalous Grazing Incidence Small Angle Scattering (GISAXS) as a function of the number of GaN planes and of the AlN spacer thickness. In a regime where the GaN QDs and the AlN capping are mutually strain influenced, a vertical correlation in the position of QDs is found with as a side-e ect an average increase in the QDs width.