Low-temperature growth of crystalline GaN films using energeticneutral atomic-beam lithography/epitaxy

• Published in: Applied physics letters Vol. 88; no. 4; pp. 041907 - 041907-3
• Main Authors: Mueller, Alexander H., Akhadov, Elshan A., Hoffbauer, Mark A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Published: American Institute of Physics 25-01-2006
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.2166485

Crystalline and polycrystalline gallium nitride films have been grown on bare
c
-axis-oriented sapphire at low temperatures (100°C to 500°C) using energetic neutral atom-beam lithography/epitaxy. Surface chemistry is activated by exposing substrates to nitrogen atoms with kinetic energies between 0.5 and 5.0 eV and a simultaneous flux of Ga metal, allowing low-temperature growth of GaN thin films. The as-grown GaN films show semiconducting properties, a high degree of crystallinity, and excellent epitaxial alignment. This method of low-temperature nitride film growth opens opportunities for integrating novel substrate materials with group III nitride technologies.