Grown-in defects and thermal instability affecting the reliability of lasers: III–Vs versus III-nitrides

Abstract In this chapter, we describe defects generated during various thin-film crystal growth techniques: liquid phase epitaxy, metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy, and molecular beam epitaxy. The defects are classified into two types: interface defects and bulk defects. We also describe two major materials issues due to thermal instability of alloy semiconductors during growth: composition modulation and atomic ordering. We compare these defects and thermal instability in III–Vs and III-nitrides and discuss their generation mechanisms. Based on these results, the influence of the defects and thermally unstable structures on the reliability of lasers and methods for their suppression are also presented.