Growth of InGaN layers on (111) silicon substrates by reactive sputtering

InGaN films were grown on (111) silicon substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering. It was demonstrated that the indium composition in the InGaN films can be controlled by varying the ratio of the applied radio-frequency power of the indium target to that of the GaAs target. Optical investigation showed that the bandgap energy of the InGaN films can be tailored in wide range to obtain maximal absorption of solar energy for improving the efficiency of a solar cell. Raman scattering analysis revealed that A sub(1)(LO) phonon in InGaN wurtzite structure obeys a one-mode behavior. The results indicates that the reactive sputtering is a promising growth technique for obtaining InGaN layers on silicon substrates with low cost and good compatibility with silicon based devices.