Pendeoepitaxy, a form of selective lateral growth of GaN thin films has been developed using GaN/AlN/6H-SiC͑0001͒ substrates and produced by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. Selective lateral growth is forced to initiate from the (112 0) GaN sidewalls of etched GaN seed forms by incorporating a silicon nitride seed mask and employing the SiC substrate as a pseudomask. Coalescence over and between the seed forms was achieved. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that all vertically threading defects stemming from the GaN/AlN and AlN/SiC interfaces are contained within the seed forms and a substantial reduction in the dislocation density of the laterally grown GaN. Atomic force microscopy analysis of the (112 0) face of discrete pendeoepitaxial structures revealed a root mean square roughness of 0.98 Å. The pendeoepitaxial layer photoluminescence band edge emission peak was observed to be 3.454 eV and is blueshifted by 12 meV as compared to the GaN seed layer.

A new process route for lateral growth of nearly defect free GaN structures via Pendeoepitaxy is discussed. Lateral growth of GaN films suspended from {112 − 0} side walls of [0001] oriented GaN columns into and over adjacent etched wells has been achieved via MOVPE technique without the use of, or contact with, a supporting mask or substrate. Pendeo-epitaxy is proposed as the descriptive term for this growth technique. Selective growth was achieved using process parameters that promote lateral growth of the {11 2 − 0} planes of GaN and disallow nucleation of this phase on the exposed SiC substrate. Thus, the selectivity is provided by tailoring the shape of the underlying GaN layer itself consisting of a sequence of alternating trenches and columns, instead of selective growth through openings in SiO 2 or SiN x mask, as in the conventional lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO).Two modes of initiation of the pendeo-epitaxial GaN growth via MOVPE were observed:Mode A -promoting the lateral growth of the {112 − 0} side facets into the wells faster than the vertical growth of the (0001) top facets; and Mode B -enabling the top (0001) faces to grow initially faster followed by the pendeo-epitaxial growth over the wells from the newly formed {112 − 0} side facets. Four-to-five order decrease in the dislocation density was observed via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in the pendeo-epitaxial GaN relative to that in the GaN columns. TEM observations revealed that in pendeo-epitaxial GaN films the dislocations do not propagate laterally from the GaN columns when the structure grows laterally from the sidewalls into and over the trenches. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies revealed that the coalesced regions are either defect-free or sometimes exhibit voids. Above these voids the PEGaN layer is usually defect free.

Single crystalline ͑0001͒ gallium nitride layers were implanted with beryllium. Photoluminescence ͑PL͒ measurements were subsequently performed as a function of implantation dose and annealing temperature. One new line in the PL spectra at 3.35 eV provided strong evidence for the presence of optically active Be acceptors and has been assigned to band-acceptor ͑eA͒ recombinations. The determined ionization energy of 150Ϯ10 meV confirmed that isolated Be has the most shallow acceptor level in GaN. Co-implantation of nitrogen did not enhance the activation of the Be acceptors.

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The mechanisms of growth of GaN on AlN and AlN on GaN via gas source-molecular beam epitaxy with NH3 as the nitrogen source have been investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, low energy electron diffraction, and Auger electron spectroscopy. The growth of GaN on AlN at low temperatures (650–750 °C) occurs via a Stranski–Krastanov 2D→3D type mechanism with the transition to 3D growth occurring at ≈10–15 Å. The mechanism changes to Frank van der Merwe (FM)/layer-by-layer growth above 800 °C. The growth of AlN on GaN occurred via a FM layer-by-layer mechanism within the 750–900 °C temperature range investigated. We propose a model based on the interaction of ammonia and atomic hydrogen with the GaN/AlN surfaces which indicates that the surface kinetics of hydrogen desorption and ammonia decomposition are the factors that determine the GaN growth mechanism.