OF GAN BY MOLECULAR-BEAM EPITAXY WITH ACTIVATION OF THE NITROGEN BY ACAPACITIVE RF MAGNETRON DISCHARGE

It is shown that GaN films can be grown by molecular-beam epitaxy with plasma activation of the nitrogen by a magnetron rf discharge in a sp ecially constructed coaxial source with capacitive coupling. A growth rate of similar to 0.1 mu m/h is obtained on GaAs and sapphire substra tes, and ways are found for optimizing the design of the plasma source in order to increase the growth rate. The electrophysical and lumines cence properties of undoped epitaxial films are investigated at temper atures ranging all the way to room temperature. (C) 1998 American Inst itute of Physics. [S1063-7850(98)02206-X].