Abnormal variation of the growth rate under high NH3 injected regime in the growth of GaN by NH3-source MBE

Unusual growth-rate variation during GaN formation using gas-source MBE has been discussed with respect to the chemical reactions occurring in the transition layer. A series of samples were prepared to confirm the assumption by verifying the growth regime and the impacts on the crystal quality of the GaN film. We found that the growth rate can be varied along with the amount of NH3 supply even under NH3-rich condition with a fixed Ga flux. Two growth conditions were investigated for their impact on the transition layer. One was the atomic force microscopy result, which revealed that the adatom migration length is closely related to the transition layer formation. The other one is the photoluminescent spectra, which revealed that the luminescence property of GaN is strongly related to the transition layer. (C) 2017 The Japan Society of Applied Physics