The Application of High Pressure in Physics and Technology of III-V Nitrides

Due to high bonding energy of N 2 molecule, the III-V semiconducting nitrides, especially GaN and InN require high N 2 pressure to be stable at high temperatures necessary for growth of high quality single crystals. Physical properties of GaN-Ga(I)-N 2 system are discussed in the paper. On the basis of the experimental equilibrium p-T-x data and the quantum-mechanical modeling of interaction of N 2 molecule with liquid Ga surface, the conditions for crystallization of GaN were established. The crystals obtained under high pressure are of the best structural quality, having dislocation density as low as 10-100 cm - 2 which is several orders of magnitude better than in any other crystals of GaN. The method allows to grow both n-type substrate crystals for optoelectronics and highly resistive crystals for electronic applications. The physical properties of the pressure grown GaN measured to characterize both point defects and extended defects in the crystal lattice are discussed in the paper. A special attention is paid to the application of high pressure to reveal the nature of the point defects in the crystals and electric fields in GaN-based quantum structures. Due to their very high structural quality, the pressure grown crystals are excellent substrates for epitaxial growth of quantum structures. It opens new possibilities for optoelectronic devices, especially short wavelength high power lasers and efficient UV light emitting diodes. This is due to the strong reduction in dislocation densities in relation to existing structures (10 6 -10 8 cm - 2 ) which are grown on strongly mismatched sapphire and SiC substrates. The experimental results on the epitaxial growth and physical properties of GaN-based device structures supporting above conclusions are discussed in the paper. The current development of blue laser technology in High Pressure Research Center is shortly reviewed.