On the dynamics in chemical vapor deposition of InN

Epitaxial, nanometer-thin indium nitride (InN) films are considered as promising active layers in various device applications but remains challenging to deposit. We compare the morphological evolution and characterizations of InN films with various growth conditions in chemical vapor deposition (CVD), by both a plasma atomic layer deposition (ALD) approach and a conventional metalorganic CVD approach. Our results, and previous literature, show that a time-resolved precursor supply is highly beneficial for deposition of smooth and continuous InN nanometer-thin films. We show that the time for purging the reactor between the precursor pulses and low deposition temperature are key factors to achieve homogeneous InN. Our study suggests that 320 °C is the upper temperature where the dynamics of the deposition chemistry can be controlled to involve only surface reactions with surface species. The results highlight the promising role of the ALD technique in realizing electronic devices based on nanometer-thin InN layers.