Effects of growth rate of a GaN buffer layer on the properties of GaN on a sapphire substrate

The effects of the growth rate of a GaN buffer layer grown on a GaN epilayer is experimentally investigated. Results show that the growth rate plays a key role in improving the quality of the GaN film on a sapphire substrate and an optimum growth rate exists that yields the best crystal quality. A GaN film grown on a buffer layer with the optimum growth rate of 18.3 nm/min has an electron Hall mobility of 539 cm²/V s and a dislocation density of approximately 2×10⁸ cm^-2. These improvements of GaN film qualities are illustrated by the promotion of the lateral growth mode.