Molecular beam epitaxial growth of GaN and GaMnN using a single precursor

GaMnN magnetic thin films were grown using a single GaN precursor of Et2Ga(N3)NH2C(CH3)3, and their structural and magnetic properties were investigated. The GaN layers were grown with c‐axis texture orientation. The films, however, revealed a great improvement in the crystallinity upon in‐situ and ex‐situ annealing at higher temperatures. Incorporation of Mn, however, randomized the growth direction as revealed by investigations of X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. For high Mn flux, a cubic second phase, Mn3GaN, has precipitated. It is a structure seldom observed in other conventional molecular beam epitaxy growth. It, however, offered a high conductivity to the GaMnN matrix. The precipitated films showed a uniaxial anisotropy in the magneto‐transport. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)