Growth of zinc blende-GaN on β-SiC coated (001) Si by molecular beam epitaxy using a radio frequency plasma discharge, nitrogen free-radical source

We report the growth of zinc blende-GaN epitaxial films on β-SiC coated (001) Si substrates using a molecular beam epitaxy approach in which the reactive nitrogen species are generated in a remote 13.56 MHz rf plasma discharge, nitrogen free-radical source. We postulate, based on optical emission spectroscopy studies of the remote plasma, that, in our study, nitrogen atoms are the species primarily responsible for efficient nitridation. The zinc blende nature of the GaN films was confirmed by in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction, ex situ x-ray diffraction, and ex situ low-temperature photoluminescence analyses. Our zinc blende-GaN film growth rates (∼0.3 μm/h) are higher than those reported to date that involve the use of electron cyclotron resonance type reactive nitrogen sources.