Growth and Charactertics of GaN Film on Thin AlN/(0001) Sapphire Template Layer via Direct Reaction of Gallium and Ammonia

With the advantages of low cost, simplicity, and scalability, a direct reaction using gallium (Ga) and ammonia (NH3) has been employed to deposit GaN film on a (0001) sapphire substrate. We find that only GaN crystallites with diameters in the range of 0.4–5 µm are sparsely deposited on a bare (0001) sapphire substrate. To increase the density of the GaN nucleation site and thus form continuous GaN film, a 50-nm-thick AlN layer [grown on the (0001) sapphire substrate by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) at 1150 °C in a pulsed manner] is used as a template layer. Plan-view scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cross-sectional SEM experimental results show that the GaN film has a specular smooth surface and that the film thickness is about 10 µm after 1 h deposition. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cathodoluminescence (CL) experimental results indicate that the formed GaN film is of single crystals with a hexagonal structure. The full widths at half-maximum (FWHM) of the (002) and (102) X-ray rocking curves are 420 and 556 arcsec, respectively. Our experimental results demonstrate that the growth of high-quality and thick GaN film via a direct reaction is possible.