Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
The influence of the variation of the Ga/N flux ratio during deposition and of the different substrate nitridation temperatures on the microstructure of 2H-GaN films grown on (0001) sapphire, by RF plasma MBE, is investigated by conventional and high resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM-HREM). The different growth rates of the inverse polarity domains in Ga-rich and N-rich specimens result in film surfaces of different roughness, whereas the stacking fault (SF) content is significantly higher in samples grown under N-rich conditions. Low temperature nitridation of the substrate results in a low density of defects in GaN film. Cubic GaN “pockets”, near the substrate/GaN interface that are present in low temperature nitridated samples are not observed in high temperature nitridated samples.