An investigation was made of the relaxation of misfit strain by the formation of misfit dislocations and stacking faults in high In-content InxGa1-xN layers grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The misfit dislocations in the highly mismatched In0.33Ga0.66N/GaN system were generated not only at the InGaN/GaN interface but also within an InGaN layer. This indicated that the InGaN layer in the interface was partially relaxed and the considerable residual strain was relaxed within the InGaN layer. In addition, it was observed that stacking faults formed by stacking order mismatch between sub-grains played the role of a seed in the formation of misfit dislocations within a high In-content InxGa1-xN layer.

Generation of Misfit Dislocations in High Indium Content InGaN Layer Grown on GaN. H.K.Cho, G.M.Yang: Journal of Crystal Growth, 2002, 243[1], 124-8