Gallium Nitride Growth Using Diethylgallium Chloride as an Alternative Gallium Source

Metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) of GaN has been carried out using diethyl gallium chloride (DEGaCl) and ammonia. The growth rate and efficiency of the DEGaCl-based growth decreases with increasing temperature when compared to trimethyl gallium (TMG)-based growth under similar conditions. Both low temperature buffer and the high temperature GaN layers were grown using the DEGaCl-NH3 precursor combination on the basal plane of sapphire and compared to similar structures grown using TMG and NH3. DEGaCl-based growth reveals an improved growth behavior under identical growth conditions to the conventional TMGa and ammonia growth. X-ray, Hall, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements have been carried out on these samples providing a direct comparison of materials properties associated with these growth precursors. For the DEGaCl-based growth, the x-ray rocking curve line width, using the (0002) reflection, is as low as 300 arcsec on a 2.5-micron thick film. A RMS surface roughness of ^0.5nm measured over a 10x10 micron area.