Homoepitaxial hydride
vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) growth on GaN
substrates grown with a Na-flux method, which is the most promising
approach for fabrication of large-diameter, low-dislocation-density,
fast-growing GaN wafers, was attempted for the first time. We found
that, when different growth methods are combined, the differences
in oxygen concentrations between a seed and grown crystal must be
eliminated to maintain the crystallographic quality of the seed. Two
kinds of Na-flux-grown seed crystals were prepared; one had a surface
composed of c, {101̅2}, and {101̅1} planes,
the other a surface composed entirely of c-planes.
Both crystals were sliced, ground, mirror-polished, and applied for
500-μm-thick HVPE growth. In the former sample, the seed crystal
generated fine cracks, and the epitaxially grown layer had a rough
surface and included many dislocations; the latter sample showed no
fault. For clarifying the mechanism of crystal degradation, we investigated
the lattice constants of each growth sector using an X-ray microbeam
and found that lattice constants in the {101̅1}-growth sector
were expanded compared to those in other growth sectors due to oxygen
impurities. These values were estimated to be much larger than those
of HVPE crystals, resulting in the crystal degradation after the HVPE
growth by a lattice mismatch.