GaN Substrates for III-Nitride Devices

Despite the rapid commercialization of III-nitride semiconductor devices for applications in visible and ultraviolet optoelectronics and in high-power and high-frequency electronics, their full potential is limited by two primary obstacles: i) a high defect density and biaxial strain due to the heteroepitaxial growth on foreign substrates, which result in lower performance and shortened device lifetime, and ii) a strong built-in electric field due to spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization in the wurtzite structures along the well-established [0001] growth direction for nitrides. Recent advances in the research, development, and commercial production of native GaN substrates with low defect density and high structural and optical quality have opened opportunities to overcome both of these obstacles and have led to significant progress in the development of several opto-electronic and high-power devices. In this paper, the recent achievements in bulk GaN growth development using different approaches are reviewed; comparison of the bulk materials grown in different directions is made; and the current achievements in device performance utilizing native GaN substrate material are summarized. ©2009 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE. Tanya Paskova, Drew A. Hanser and Keith R. Evans, GaN Substrates for III-Nitride Devices, 2010, Proceedings of the IEEE, (98), 7, 1324-1338.http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/JPROC.2009.2030699