Extended x-ray absorption fine structure study of AlxGa(1−x)N films

Extended x-ray absorption fine structure above the Ga–K edge has been used to study the local structure of Al${}_x{\mathrm{Ga}}_{\text{1−x}}\mathrm{N}$ films grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. With increasing Al content, $x$ , the Ga–N bond length decreases, but much less than the average bond length. On the other hand, the $x$ dependence of the Ga–Ga and Ga–Al distances does follow the variation of the average cation–cation distance. We conclude that bond angle distortions accommodate the differences between the Ga–N and Al–N bond lengths.