Growth of GaN films with controlled out-of-plane texture on Si wafers

GaN films were deposited on Si (400) wafers by a pulsed laser deposition technique, and it was shown that out-of-plane texture of the film is controllable although the film and the substrate do not have any interface epitaxy. The texture of the film can be set either in c-axis or a-axis direction, thereby achieving polar or nonpolar film surfaces as desired. The GaN film and Si substrate were found to be separated by a thin amorphous interface layer consisting of Si, Ga, and 0 atoms, that can enhance the bonding between GaN and Si. This study shows the possibility of depositing GaN films on Si wafers at low cost and the potential of integrating Si based electronics with GaN based optoelectronics. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.