Morphological and Microstructural Evolution and Related Impurity Incorporation in Non-Polar a-Plane GaN Grown on r-Sapphire Substrates

Effects of the growth temperature on morphological and microstructural evolution of a-plane GaN films grown on r-plane sapphires by metal organic chemical vapor deposition are investigated by atomic force microscopy and secondary ion mass spectroscopy （SIMS）. Surface morphology, structural quality and related impurity incorpora- tion are very sensitive to the growth temperature. A significant difference of yellow luminescence is observed and attributed to the incorporation of carbon into GaN films, which is confirmed by SIMS analysis. Our results show that the sample with triangular-pit morphology has sample with pentagon-like pit morphology, which is significantly higher concentrations of oxygen than the other induced by the existence of an N-face in triangular pits.

Effect of the thickness of InGaN interlayer on a-plane GaN epilayer

In this paper,we use the a-plane InGaN interlayer to improve the property of a-plane GaN.Based on the a-InGaN interlayer,a template exhibits that a regular,porous structure,which acts as a compliant effect,can be obtained to release the strain caused by the lattice and thermal mismatch between a-GaN and r-sapphire.We find that the thickness of InGaN has a great influence on the growth of a-GaN.The surface morphology and crystalline quality both are first improved and then deteriorated with increasing the thickness of the InGaN interlayer.When the InGaN thickness exceeds a critical point,the a-GaN epilayer peels off in the process of cooling down to room temperature.This is an attractive way of lifting off a-GaN films from the sapphire substrate.

Effects of V/III ratio on the growth of a-plane GaN films

The non-polar a-plane GaN is grown on an r-plane sapphire substrate directly without a buffer layer by metal- organic chemical vapour deposition and the effects of V/III ratio growth conditions are investigated. Atomic force microscopy results show that triangular pits are formed at a relatively high V/III ratio, while a relatively low V/III ratio can enhance the lateral growth rate along the c-axis direction. The higher V/III ratio leads to a high density of pits in comparison with the lower V/III ratio. The surface morphology is improved greatly by using a low V/III ratio of 500 and the roughness mean square of the surface is only 3.9 nm. The high resolution X-ray diffraction characterized crystal structural results show that the rocking curve full width at half maximum along the m axis decreases from 0.757° to 0.720°, while along the c axis increases from 0.220° to 0.251° with the V/III increasing from 500 μmol/min to 2000 μmol/min, which indicates that a relatively low V/III ratio is conducible to the c-axis growth of a-plane GaN.