Fabrication of hexagonal GaN on the surface of β-Ga 2O 3 single crystal by nitridation with NH 3

Abstract

The fabrication of GaN on the surface of a bulk β-Ga 2O 3 single crystal by nitridation with NH 3 was investigated for the purpose of using it as a substrate for GaN epitaxial growth. A β-Ga 2O 3 single crystal was prepared using a floating zone furnace with double ellipsoidal mirrors, and its polished (100) plane was nitridated in NH 3 atmosphere at 850 °C for 5 h. It was found that hexagonal GaN with preferred in-plane orientation was produced on the surface of β-Ga 2O 3, and the thickness of nitride layers was approximately 50 nm. High resolution transmission electron microscopic observation indicated that the synthesized GaN was composed of the aggregation with single crystalline GaN particles, whose size ranged from ∼ 5 nm to ∼ 50 nm, and dislocation or defect was not observed in a GaN particle. This method could be expected as a new route to fabricate a substrate for epitaxial growth of III-nitride materials instead of using a bulk GaN single crystal.