Chloride vapor-phase epitaxy of gallium nitride on silicon: Effect of a silicon carbide interlayer

A new approach is described, according to which the use of a thin silicon carbide (SiC) interlayer ensures the suppression of cracking and the simultaneous release of elastic strain in gallium nitride (GaN) epilayers grown by hydride-chloride vapor-phase epitaxy (HVPE) on 1.5-inch Si(111) substrates. Using this method, 20-μm-thick GaN epilayers have been grown by HVPE on Si substrates with AlN (300 nm) and SiC (100 nm) interlayers. A high quality of the obtained GaN epilayers is confirmed by the photoluminescence spectra, where an exciton band with hv_max = 3.45 eV and a half-width (FWHM) of 68 meV is observed at 77 K, as well as by the X-ray rocking curves exhibiting GaN(0002) reflections with a half-width of ω_? = 600 arc sec.