Nanostructural and electronic properties of polytypes in InN nanocolumns

Transmission electron microscopy techniques and density functional theory calculations were employed to investigate the nanostructural and electronic properties of InN polytypes observed in InN nanocolumns, grown on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy. Moiré fringes and alternating hexagonal and cubic lattice stacking sequences along the c-axis, observed among the wurtzite layers, implied the presence of different structures embedded in the basic 2H structure of the nanocolumns. Quantitative electron diffraction analysis and high-resolution image simulations verified the coexistence of the wurtzite structure with the 4H, 6H, and the 3C zinc-blende structural polytypes. Total energies calculations established the 2H wurtzite structure as the most stable polytype. The band gap of all polytypes was found direct with the energies and the band gaps of the 4H (Eg = 0.64 eV) and 6H (Eg = 0.60 eV) structures calculated between the corresponding values of the 2H (Eg = 0.75 eV) and 3C (Eg = 0.49 eV) basic structures. Theoretical and experimental analysis showed that at the initial stages of growth InN nanocolumns were under tensile strain along both the basal plane and growth direction. Structural polytypes were then introduced in the form of embedded inclusions to accommodate the excess tensile strain along the growth direction, allowing the entire process of polymorphism to be the dominant strain relaxation mechanism of InN nanocolumns. Moreover, the lattice and energetic properties and band gap values of InN polytypes showed a linear dependence on hexagonality, while the presence of polytypes led to a characteristic broadening of the photoluminescence emission peak toward lower emission energies.