We demonstrate the selective area growth of GaN on SiO2-masked AlN/Si(111)
and GaN/AlN/Si(111) wafers by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) using triethyl ga
llium and ammonia. We investigated the selective nucleation process on Si w
afers with oxide and nitride masks. The selectivity of the nucleation proce
ss was monitored in real time using time-of-flight mass spectroscopy of rec
oiled ions (TOF-MSRI). Our results show that TOF-MSRI Desks from mask-corre
sponding elements (Si and O or N) remain unchanged during GaN regrowth on c
ontinuous SiO2 layers or nitridated Si(111) within the condition range we e
xplored. The selective growth was confirmed by ex situ scanning electron mi
croscopy analysis. We also found that, depending on the growth conditions,
CBE can be used for selective growth of both microcolumnar and planar GaN f
ilms. Room temperature photoluminescence studies revealed that both types o
f films are optically active, which could potentially lead to novel device
concepts and applications. (C) 2000 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-2101(00
)15304-7].