Tri‐halide vapor phase epitaxy of GaN using GaCl₃ gas as a group III precursor

Abstract

Abstract Tri‐halide vapor phase epitaxy (THVPE) of GaN using GaCl 3 gas generated by the reaction between metallic Ga and Cl 2 gas at the source zone was investigated. From thermodynamic analysis, it was predicted that the driving force for GaN growth by THVPE would be larger than that by conventional mono halide vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) using GaCl as a group III precursor. From the growth experiments, it was shown that the growth rate of GaN by THVPE was much higher than that by conventional HVPE under the same input partial pressure conditions. It was also revealed that GaN growth is possible at higher temperatures by THVPE. In photoluminescence (PL) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, a GaN layer grown by THVPE at 1150 °C has optical properties and crystalline quality superior to that of a GaN layer grown by HVPE at 970 °C (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)