High quality m-plane GaN grown under nitrogen-rich conditions by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

Homoepitaxial growth of m-plane GaN (11¯00) as a function of substrate miscut and temperature was studied by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). The authors demonstrate that it is possible to obtain high-quality GaN on the m-plane under nitrogen-rich conditions at 730 °C. This is in contrast to the c-plane where three-dimensional growth mode is observed under the same conditions. They find a strong growth anisotropy and describe GaN (11¯00) surface morphology dependence on the sample miscut direction. The results indicate that by introducing a sample miscut toward ⟨112¯6¯⟩ one may expect parallel atomic steps when growing under nitrogen-rich conditions at 730 °C by PAMBE.