The mosaicity of GaN layers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy, on (0001) sapphire and exhibiting different grain diameters is studied using high-resolution x-ray diffraction. The coherence lengths, the tilt, and the twist of the mosaic structure are determined utilizing data taken in different x-ray scattering geometries. The results of different models, which were applied, are then compared and discussed. The dislocation densities, obtained from the x-ray data, are compared with the results of plan-view transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy.

We report on the emission properties of nonpolar a-plane GaN layers grown on r-plane sapphire. Temperature-, excitation-density-, and polarization-dependent photoluminescences and spatially resolved microphotoluminescence and cathodoluminescence are employed in order to clarify the nature of the different emission bands in the 3.0–3.5eV spectral range. In the near band-edge region the emission lines of the donor-bound excitons (3.472eV) and free excitons (3.478eV) are resolved in the polarized low-temperature spectra, indicating a good quality of the layers. At low energies two other emissions bands with intensity and shape varying with the excited area are observed. The 3.42eV emission commonly attributed to the excitons bound to basal plane stacking faults shows thermal quenching with two activation energies (7 and 30meV) and an S-shaped temperature dependence of the peak position. This behavior is analyzed in terms of hole localization in the vicinity of the stacking faults. The emission band that peaked at 3.29eV is found to blueshift and saturate with increasing excitation intensity. The spatially resolved cathodoluminesence measurements show that the emission is asymmetrically distributed around the triangular-shaped pits occurring at the surface. The 3.29eV emission is suggested to involve impurities, which decorate the partial dislocation terminating the basal stacking faults.

The optical signatures of Mg-related acceptors in GaN have been revisited in samples specifically grown on bulk GaN templates, to avoid strain broadening of the optical spectra. Bound-exciton spectra can be studied in these samples for Mg concentrations up to [Mg] approximately 2 x 10(19) cm(-3). Contrary to previous work it is found that instabilities in the photoluminescence spectra are not due to unstable shallow donors, but to unstable Mg-related acceptors. Our data show that there are two Mg-related acceptors simultaneously present: the regular (stable) substitutional Mg acceptor, and a complex acceptor which is unstable in p-GaN.

The formation of dislocations and stress in GaN layers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy on sapphire is investigated with regard to the average grain diameter. The grain diameter was determined by monitoring the high-temperature GaN island coalescence process during growth using reflectometry. It is found that the density of edge threading dislocations decreases and the compressive stress measured after cooling to room temperature increases when the coalescence thickness and the grain diameter increase. The data are consistent with models of development of tensile stress due to island coalescence during growth.

Relaxation of tensile strain in AlxGa1−xN layers of different compositions epitaxially grown on GaN/sapphire is investigated. Extended crack channels along 〈211¯0〉 directions are formed if the aluminum content exceeds a critical value, which decreases with increasing layer thickness. This process is found to limit the average strain energy density to a maximum value of 4 J/m2. By calculating the stress distribution between cracks and the strain energy release rate for crack propagation, the relaxed strain as measured by x-ray diffraction is correlated to the crack density, and the onsets of crack channeling and layer decohesion are fitted to a fracture toughness of 9 J/m2. Moreover, the crack opening at the surface is found to linearly increase with the stress. Annealing of samples above the growth temperature introduces additional tensile stress due to the mismatch in thermal expansion coefficients between the layer and substrate. This stress is shown to relieve not only by the formation of additional cracks but also by the extension of cracks into the GaN layer and a thermal activated change in the defect structure.