Structural investigations of GaN grown by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition on 6H-SiC and Al2O3 from GaCl3 and NH3

GaN films grown on (0001) 6H-SiC and (0001) Al2O3 substrates using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition with GaCl3 and NH3 as precursors are comparatively explored by optical, scanning tunneling, and transmission electron microscopy. Independent of the substrate material used, the surface of the GaN layers is covered by hexagonally shaped islands. For GaN on 6H-SiC, the islands are larger in diameter (approximate to 50 mu m) and rather uniformly distributed. An atomically flat interface is observed for GaN on Al2O3 in contrast to GaN grown on 6H-SiC, where the interface is characterized by large steps. For both substrates, faceted holes (named as pinholes) are observed in near-surface regions of the GaN layers occurring with a density of about 7 x 10(8) cm((-2)). No unequivocal correlation between the density of pinholes and the density of threading dislocations (approximate to 1.6 x 10((10)) cm((-2)) for GaN/Al2O3 and approximate to 4 x 10(9) cm((-2)) for GaN/6H-SiC) can be found, Rather, different types of defects are identified to be correlated with the pinholes, implying a dislocation-independent mechanism for the pinhole formation. Despite the small lattice mismatch between GaN and 6H-SiC, the pronounced original surface roughness of this substrate material is believed to account for both the marked interfacial roughness and the still existing high density of threading dislocations. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.