Pd films deposited at room temperature have been found to grow epitaxi
ally on GaN grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The Pd
films were deposited on GaN substrates cleaned by chemicals only, and
in a conventional e-beam evaporation system with a vacuum of similar t
o 1 x 10(-7) Torr. MeV He-4 backscattering spectrometry and the Read x
-ray camera were used to evaluate the Pd films. The effects of various
chemical etchants-such as aqua regia, HCl:H2O, and HF:H2O - on the ep
itaxial quality of the Pd films have also been investigated. Ni and Pt
films deposited on GaN in a similar manner were also found to be epit
axial. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.