Application of highly silicon-doped marker layers in the investigation of unintentional doping in GaN on sapphire

To provide a route to the assessment of the impact of inclined facets on unintentional n-type doping during the growth of c-plane GaN on sapphire, thin (100 nm), highly Si-doped (at 1019 cm−3) marker layers have been incorporated into a GaN epitaxial layer grown by a method involving a transition from initial three-dimensional island growth to later, two-dimensional, planar growth. Imaging of the completed epitaxial layer in cross-section by scanning capacitance microscopy reveals the shapes of the islands, which were present during the early stages of growth and the relationship between the facets present and the incorporation of unintentional dopants. The results show that unintentional dopants are mostly incorporated on facets inclined to the [0 0 0 1] direction, and suggest that gaseous impurities present in the MOVPE reactor are one source of dopant species.

Research highlights
► Scanning capacitance microscopy has been used to study unintentional doping in GaN epilayers.
► Highly doped marker layers provide the means to track the growth and coalescence of the islands, which form the epilayer, and how this relates to the incorporation of unintentional dopants.
► The results suggest that the presence of facets inclined to (0 0 0 1) is important in the incorporation of unintentional dopants.