IOP Publishing, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 1(41), p. 015406, 2007
DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/41/1/015406
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We report on the growth and characterization of patterned and uniformly distributed GaN microcrystals with well-defined facets and epitaxy. The microcrystals were grown on a mask patterned by lithography. The GaN microcrystals were formed by selective-area epitaxy using metal-organic chemical-vapour deposition. The GaN microcrystals have similar sizes and shapes. Each microcrystal consists of an upper and a lower part, which are rotated by 30°. Transmission electron microscopy shows that there is a rather clear interface between the two parts of the crystal, suggesting a sudden change in the growth direction. We performed ab initio calculations for the surface energies of hexagonal GaN, and the growth morphology is explained based on surface energy considerations.