Silicon effect on GaN surface morphology

Si-doped GaN epitaxial layers have been grown at 1050 °C on optimized-AlN buffered (0001) sapphire substrates by atmospheric pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. In order to investigate the Si effect on the surface morphology of GaN epilayers, several samples were grown by varying the silane partial pressure. When the silane partial pressure increases above 1.7×10⁻⁸ atm, the surface quality becomes rough. This shows the Si surfactant effect. A correlation between an in situ laser reflectometry and ex situ optical and atomic force microscopy characterizations on the one hand and between electrical properties and surface quality on the other hand were made. As the electron concentration increases, the surface becomes more and more rough and the mobility drops dramatically.