Growth of group III nitrides on various plane substrates

The fabrication of GaN-based light emitting diodes on non-(0001) plane substrates, that is a (3038) 4H-SiC substrate and a (1012) sapphire substrate is reported. GaN layers having atomically flat surfaces can be grown on both planes. A violet LED having a (3038) surface, which is neither (0001) or (1012) surface, has been fabricated for the first time. Further optimization of the growth conditions will allow additional choices of the crystal orientation of the substrate.