Searching for the Influence of the Sapphire Nitridation Conditions on GaN Films Grown by Cyclic PLD

We have deposited highly c-axis oriented GaN films on sapphire by the Cyclic Pulsed Laser Deposition Technique. Nitridation of the sapphire substrates for these samples was performed at 200 °C, 400 °C and 600 °C. For that purposed, we used a radio frequency nitrogen plasma during four hours. The films were compared in terms of crystal structure, surface morphology and optical quality. Although small, the biggest differences were detected in the surface morphology of the films. Additionally, a typical GaN sample nitridated at 200 °C was analysed by photoluminescence and showed the typical donor bound excitonic luminescence (D0X ) transition at 3.47 eV and a line near 3.42 eV. These lines show a FWHM of 20 meV and 30 meV at 13K, respectively.