Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
The use of the nearly lattice-matched oxide substrates LiGaO2 and LiAlO2 has been explored for growth of GaN by MOCVD. As compared to the quality of films grown on sapphire, only growth on LiGaO2 yielded good quality films, and required use of nitrogen as the carrier gas. Furthermore, high structural quality films were grown on LiGaO2 at temperatures as low as 850°C. Dislocation densities estimated from cross-sectional TEM micrographs were found to be as low as 107 cm-2 . HRTEM studies revealed deformations at the surface of the LiGaO2 adjacent to deposited GaN films, indicating possible interracial reactions which may affect the film properties. The GaN film orientations corresponded directly to the substrate orientation, viz., ({0001}/{001} and {1102}/{101}).