Quasi‐Van der Waals Epitaxial Growth of GaN on Hexagonal Boron Nitride via Metal–Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

Herein, GaN grown on hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN) layer is investigated through surface treatment to improve the quality of the GaN layer. The surface treatment method comprises the annealing and nitridation methods. The surface bonding property of the h‐BN layer is confirmed after surface treatment methods by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. These conditions affect the formation of the N–H bond and limit the N–O bonding. For the X‐ray diffraction results of the GaN template on the h‐BN layer, the full width at half maximum of the GaN (002) plane significantly decreases with the surface treatment of the h‐BN layer, whereas that of the GaN (102) plane changes slightly. Moreover, the Raman spectra are measured to confirm the stress relaxation caused by the effect of quasi‐van der Waals (QvdW) epitaxy between the GaN and h‐BN layers. The GaN/h‐BN with surface treatment has smaller compressive strain value than GaN/sapphire. The QvdW epitaxy between the GaN and h‐BN layers affects the improvement of the GaN quality on h‐BN layer owing to the increased dangling bond density with surface treatment. Therefore, this indicates that the GaN grown on the h‐BN layer is QvdW epitaxy.