Layer-by-layer growth of Ag on a GaN(0001) surface

A drastic change of the Ag growth mode on the GaN(0001) surface, from Stranski–Krastanov (SK) growth at low Ag flux (∼0.8 ML/min) to layer-by-layer growth at a high flux (∼60 ML/min), was observed. Based on this finding, an approach to obtain a flat epitaxial Ag film on the GaN(0001) surface, by using the high Ag flux, was demonstrated. In addition, an unreconstructed Ag-terminated GaN(0001)-1×1 surface was obtained by annealing the Ag film-covered GaN(0001) surface, and its structure was explained by T1-site adatom model.