GaN epilayers and AlGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells grown on freestanding [1 1 00] oriented GaN substrates

We report on the homoepitaxial growth of GaN on freestanding [1 1 00] oriented GaN substrates using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. A proper pretreatment of the substrates was found to be essential for the GaN homoepitaxy. The influence of growth conditions such as V/III molar-ratio and temperature on the surface morphology and optical properties of epilayers was investigated. Optimized pretreatment and growth conditions led to high quality [1 1 00] oriented GaN epilayers with a smooth surface morphology and strong band-edge emission. These layers also exhibited strong room temperature stimulated emission under high intensity pulsed optical pumping. Based on these GaN epilayer, AlGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells have been grown on the freestanding M-plane GaN. Photoluminescence data confirm that built-in electric field for M-plane structures is very weak, and this situation results in a stronger PL intensity in comparison with C-plane multiple quantum wells in tests at low excitation level.