Structural and Optical Studies of Undoped Porous GaN Prepared by Pt-Assisted Electroless Etching

Abstract

Porous GaN structures were formed from crystalline GaN on conducting AL2O3 substrate using Pt-assisted electroless etching in HF: CH3OH: H2O2 = 1:4:4 under illumination of 500 W UV lamp. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectra measurements evidenced important features of the pore morphology, nanostructures and optical properties. According to the SEM micrographs, the three-dimensional ridge structure appears with the formation of porous material between the ridges. The porous layer exhibited a substantial PL intensity enhancement with red-shifted band-edge PL peaks associated with the relaxation of compressive stress. The shift of E2(high) to the lower frequency in Raman spectra of the porous GaN films further confirms such a stress relaxation.