Structural properties of GaN films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on singular and vicinal 6H-SiC(0001)

Abstract

Gallium nitride films are grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on 6H-SiC(0001) substrates with no miscut and with 3.5° miscuts in both the [11 · 0 0] and [1 1 2 · 0] directions. The hydrogen-etched substrates display straight or chevron shaped steps, respectively, and the same morphology is observed on the GaN films. X-ray rocking curves display substantially reduced width for films on the vicinal substrates compared to singular substrates, for the same Ga/N flux ratio used during growth.