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Intern: Jonathan Hollander, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Mentor: Ben Haskell Faculty Supervisor: Shuji Nakamura/Jim Speck Department: Materials

GROWTH OF (11¯00) m-PLANE GALLIUM NITRIDE ON ALUMINUM OXIDE VIA HYDRIDE VAPOR-PHASE EPITAXY

Studies of non-polar GaN planes have shown an increase in device performance though suffering from relatively challenging or costly fabrication. New theories pronounce (11¯00) GaN as having potential to be the most stable non-polar growth plane, however many available substrates have too large lattice mismatch. In attempt to find a suitable sapphire orientation, we are led to believe that an 8.668 degree miscut from the (112¯3) plane toward the [0001] direction may yield a proper growing surface. Several cutting and polishing techniques must be employed in order to sufficiently improve the surface quality to meet proper growing conditions at this inclination. Once a substrate is fabricated, films may be grown by way of HVPE. System parameters are carefully selected and tested to minimize threading dislocation density, which may be on the order of 1010 cm-2 for a device-quality film. Characterization of films after growth including optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and x-ray diffraction, are important to assess the crystalline quality and homogeneity across the substrate.

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