Properties of erbium-doped gallium nitride films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

We report on fabrication of the GaN layers deposited onto silicon, silica-on-silicon and quartz glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. The GaN layers were also doped with erbium ions to achieve active optical properties. The fabricated layers were characterized by a number of methods and the results are discussed on the bases of quality of the deposited GaN structures.