Growth and characterization of GaN thin films on Si(111) substrates using SiC intermediate layer

GaN films have been grown atop Si-terminated 3C-SiC intermediate layer on Si(111) substrates using low pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD). The SiC intermediate layer was grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using tetramethylsilane (TMS) as the single source precursor. The Si terminated SiC surface was obtained by immediately flow of SiH₄ gas after growth of SiC film. LP-MOCVD growth of GaN on 3C-SiC/Si(111) was carried out with trimethylgallium (TMG) and NH₃. Single crystalline hexagonal GaN layers can be grown on Si terminated SiC intermediate layer using an AlN or GaN buffer layer. Compared with GaN layers grown using a GaN buffer layer, the crystal qualities of GaN films with AlN buffer layers are extremely improved. The GaN films were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Full width at half maximum (FWHM) of double crystal x-ray diffraction (DCXD) rocking curve for GaN (0002) on 3C-SiC/Si(111) was 890 arcsec. PL near band edge emission peak position and FWHM at room temperature are 3.38 eV and 79.35 meV, respectively.