Geometrically-Controlled Microscale Patterning and Epitaxial Lateral Overgrowth of Nitrogen-Polar GaN

Abstract

In this study we report on a novel two-step epitaxial growth technique that enables a significant improvement of the crystal quality of nitrogen-polar GaN. The starting material is grown on 4° vicinal sapphire substrates by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy, with an initial high-temperature sapphire nitridation to control polarity. The material is then converted into a regular array of hexagonal pyramids by wet-etch in a KOH solution, and subsequently regrown to coalesce the pyramids back into a smooth layer of improved crystal quality. The key points that enable this technique are the control of the array geometry, obtained by exploiting the anisotropic behaviour of the wet-etch step, and the use of regrowth conditions that preserve the orientation of the pyramids' sidewalls. In contrast, growth conditions that cause an excessive expansion of the residual (000-1) facets on the pyramids' tops cause the onset of a very rough surface morphology upon full coalescence. An X-ray diffraction study confirms the reduction of the threading dislocation density as the regrowth step develops. The analysis of the relative position of the 000-2 GaN peak with respect to the 0006 sapphire peak reveals a macroscopic tilt of the pyramids, probably induced by the large off-axis substrate orientation. This tilt correlates very well with an anomalous broadening of the 000-2 diffraction peaks at the beginning of the regrowth step.