Issue 30, 2014

Chemical etching behaviors of semipolar (11[2 with combining macron]2) and nonpolar (11[2 with combining macron]0) gallium nitride films

Abstract

Wet chemical etching using hot KOH and H3PO4 solutions was performed on semipolar (11[2 with combining macron]2) and nonpolar (11[2 with combining macron]0) GaN films grown on sapphire substrates. An alternating KOH/H3PO4/KOH etch process was developed to control the orientation of the facets on the thin-film surface. The initial etch step in KOH produced c- and m-plane facets on the surface of both semipolar (11[2 with combining macron]2) and nonpolar (11[2 with combining macron]0) GaN thin-films. A second etch step in H3PO4 solution additionally exposed a ([1 with combining macron][1 with combining macron]2[2 with combining macron]) plane, which is chemically stable in H3PO4 solution. By repeating the chemical etch with KOH solution, the m-plane facets as seen in the original KOH etch step were recovered. The etching methods developed in our work can be used to control the surface morphologies of nonpolar and semipolar GaN-based optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes and solar cells.

Graphical abstract: Chemical etching behaviors of semipolar (11 [[2 with combining macron]] 2) and nonpolar (11 [[2 with combining macron]] 0) gallium nitride films

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
26 May 2014
Accepted
06 Jun 2014
First published
09 Jun 2014

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014,16, 15780-15783

Chemical etching behaviors of semipolar (11[2 with combining macron]2) and nonpolar (11[2 with combining macron]0) gallium nitride films

Y. Jung, K. H. Baik, M. A. Mastro, J. K. Hite, C. R. Eddy and J. Kim, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014, 16, 15780 DOI: 10.1039/C4CP02303J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements