Nitride Semiconductors

Summary

The III‐nitrides have successfully made their way into a number of economically important fields, both in electronics and optoelectronics. This chapter first discusses the important properties of the III‐nitrides and challenges for metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy growth. It summarizes some basic properties of the binary nitrides AlN, GaN, and InN. The preferred choice for substrate is GaN or AlN for homoepitaxy. Since homoepitaxial growth is difficult due to the lack of affordable substrates, most devices (with the exception of laser diodes, which are all grown on GaN substrates) are grown on foreign substrates. A large variety of substrates has been explored, but there are only three substrates (sapphire, SiC, and Si) that are relevant for device use. The most widespread is sapphire, which is transparent over the whole wavelength range accessible with nitrides. The challenges provided by the growth processes for the III‐nitrides also impact the requirements for reactor in situ monitoring and precursors.