GaN/metal/Si heterostructure fabricated by metal bonding and laser lift-off

A process methodology has been adopted to transfer GaN thin films grown on sapphire substrates to Si substrates using metal bonding and laser lift-off techniques. After bonding, a single KrF (248 nm) excimer laser pulse was directed through the transparent sapphire substrates followed by low-temperature heat treatment to remove the substrates. The influence of bonding temperature and energy density of the excimer laser on the structure and optical properties of GaN films were investigated systemically. Atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements showed that (1) the quality of the GaN film was higher at a lower bonding temperature and lower energy density; (2) the threshold of the energy density of the excimer laser lift-off GaN was 300 mJ/cm2. The root-mean-square roughness of the transferred GaN surface was about 50 nm at a bonding temperature of 400 °C.