(Invited) Growth of Non-Polar Cubic GaN on Common Si

Abstract

By some accounts group-III nitride may be the widest disseminated man-made compound semiconductors. Yet, what is it that makes it so successful? Maybe the wurtzite structure which allows for piezoelectric polarization? We know about the Stokes shift it induces and its associated troubles. So we rush to reduce polarization in non-polar growth. But how about the cubic form of GaN. Shouldn't that be free of polarization? Would it be the better light emitter even? To find out we prepare GaN and GaInN/GaN heterostructures in cubic lattice form. Yes, that has been done before but in MBE. No, we use MOVPE, the method responsible for all the bright emitters in the nitrides. By virtue of some patterning we achieve cubic growth on the more common form of Si, the (001) orientation, which further allows for conceptional integration with the semiconductor of industry choice. We discuss details of the epitaxial growth and progress in characterization results including first green LEDs.