Wurtzite GaN epitaxial growth on Si(111) using silicon nitride as an initial layer

We report single crystalline GaN films grown on Si(111) using Si3N4 as an initial layer by a simple reactive evaporation technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXRD) indicate that the GaN epilayer has a wurtzite structure of high quality. The photoluminescence spectrum at room temperature exhibits a strong emission of the GaN epilayer at the wavelength of 365 nm with a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of only 8 nm (74.6 meV), and no yellow luminescence is present. The silicon nitride not only acts as a growth buffer layer, but also effectively prevents oxygen and silicon diffusion from the substrate to the epilayer. This simple but effective technique makes it possible not only to grow high-quality GaN on Si, but also to eliminate yellow luminescence (YL) in GaN epilayers.