Optical properties of LMBE grown c-axis oriented GaN thin films using Surface Plasmon Resonance technique

Abstract

Present work reports the growth and optimisation of thin films of Gallium nitride (GaN) with preferred c-axis (0002) orientation on Si (111) substrate using the Laser Molecular Beam Epitaxy technique. For the development of optically efficient GaN thin film, the nitrogen gas flow during film deposition has been optimised and film properties are measured using the highly sensitive Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technique in OTTO configuration. Structural, morphological and optical properties of the GaN thin films were studied using XRD, AFM, PL and FTIR spectroscopy. Varying the deposition gas flow from 1.3 sccm to 4 sccm led to a decrease in refractive index values from 2.77 to 2.21. By using the SPR technique, the refractive index (n) dispersion of GaN thin films was also analysed with the incident radiated wavelength.