GaN epitaxy on Cu(110) by metal organic chemical vapor deposition

We demonstrate that Cu can be a suitable substrate material for c-plane GaN epitaxy using metal organic chemical vapor deposition. By using a low temperature AlN buffer layer, Ga and Cu alloying can be prevented so that GaN layer can be grown on Cu at a temperature of 1000 °C. An epitaxial relation of GaN (0001)//Cu(110) is observed using cross-section transmission electron microscopy and electron back scatter diffraction studies. The single crystalline GaN epilayer shows a threading dislocation density of 3 × 109 cm−2 and strong band edge emission at room temperature. The site alignment between GaN (0001) and Cu(110) shows a mesh ratio of 4/3 and 5/3 in GaN [10-10] and GaN [-1100] directions, which is attributed to the epitaxial relation observed.