Predicted bond length variation in wurtzite and zinc-blende InGaN and AlGaN alloys

Valence force field simulations utilizing large supercells are used to investigate the bond lengths in wurtzite and zinc-blende InxGa1-xN and AlxGa1-xN random alloys. We find that (i) while the first-neighbor cation-anion shell is split into two distinct values in both wurtzite and zinc-blende alloys (RGa-N1 not equal RIn-N1), the second-neighbor cation-anion bonds are equal (RGa-N2 = RIn-N2). The second-neighbor cation-anion bonds exhibit a crucial difference between wurtzite and zinc-blende binary structures: in wurtzite we find two bond distances which differ in length by 13% while in the zinc-blende structure there is only one bond length. This splitting is preserved in the alloy, and acts as a fingerprint, distinguishing the wurtzite from the zinc-blende structure. (iii) The small splitting of the first-neighbor cation-anion bonds in the wurtzite structure due to nonideal c/a ratio is preserved in the alloy, but is obscured by the bond length broadening. (iv) The cation-cation bond lengths exhibit three distinct values in the alloy (Ga-Ga, Ga-In, and In-In), while the anion-anion bonds are split into two values corresponding to N-Ga-N and N-In-N. (v) The cation-related splitting of the bonds and alloy broadening are considerably larger in InGaN alloy than in AlGaN alloy due to larger mismatch between the binary compounds. (vi) The calculated first-neighbor cation-anion and cation-cation bond lengths in InxGa1-xN alloy are in good agreement with the available experimental data. The remaining bond lengths are provided as predictions. In particular, the predicted splitting for the second-neighbor cation-anion bonds in the wurtzite structure awaits experimental testing. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)09601-2].