Molecular beam epitaxy growth of GaN on C-terminated 6H–SiC (0001¯) surface

We report the results of successful growth of GaN on the C-terminated surface of SiC. A combination of direct heating and hydrogen plasma treatment was employed for surface preparation. High-quality epitaxy was achieved in epilayers as thin as 2000 Å, as evidenced by the x-ray diffraction full width at half maximum of 90 arc sec and 4.2 K donor-bound exciton peak width of 1.4 meV. The epilayers exhibit clear signatures of compressive strain, suggesting a more favorable growth mode than can be achieved on the Si-terminated surface.