The thermal and plasma-assisted nitridation of GaAs(100) using NH3 has
been examined employing x-ray diffraction, Auger electron spectroscop
y, and atomic force microscopy to characterize the nitrided films. All
thermally nitrided films were composed of a mixture of hexagonal and
cubic GaN, whereas the addition of plasma excitation produced films pu
rely of the cubic structure. Thicknesses of the thermally nitrided fil
ms, up to 7000 Angstrom, increased with both increasing temperature an
d nitridation time. The plasma-assisted process holds promise for the
formation of templates for homoepitaxial growth of cubic GaN. (C) 1995
American Institute of Physics.