Nitridation of substrates with hydrazine cyanurate for the growth of gallium nitride

The use of purified hydrazine cyanurate as a solid source of hydrazine in the low temperature nitridation of GaAs (100) and (111) and sapphire (0001) is demonstrated. The nitridated surfaces were analyzed by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) for chemical composition and Atomic Force Microscopy for surface morphology. The GaAs surfaces were composed primarily of GaN, GaAs, and Ga2O3, and were as smooth as unprocessed standards. The nitridated sapphire surfaces were composed of AlNxO1-x and exhibited three-dimensional growth for long nitridation times.