Effect of the number of wells on optical and structural properties in InGaN quantum well structures grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

High-quality InGaN quantum well (QW) structures with one, two, three, five, and seven wells were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The effect of the number of InGaN QWs on the structural and optical properties was studied by high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD), atomic force microscopy, low excitation density photoluminescence (PL), high excitation density pulsed PL, and PL excitation (PLE). The 10 K PLE band edge of all the samples is almost same, but the 10 K PL peaks of the InGaN QWs initially blueshifts, and then redshifts as the number of wells increases. HRXRD reciprocal space mapping and high excitation pulsed PL show that this anomalous peak shift is due mainly to potential fluctuations, rather than the piezoelectric field. The degree of potential fluctuations varies with dislocation density, which could be affected by growth interruption, the deposition of strained layers, and the accumulated strain energy in InGaN QW structures. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.