Effect of Si doping on epitaxial lateral overgrowth of GaN: A spatially resolved micro-Raman scattering study

We report spatially resolved Raman scattering from Si-doped epitaxial laterally overgrown GaN structures to investigate spatial variations in stress and free electron concentration. The doping-induced increase in the free electron concentration is relatively higher in the laterally overgrown regions than in the coherently grown regions due to the increased contribution of the high-energy A1 longitudinal optical phonon–plasmon coupled mode. In addition, the E2(high) [E2(low)] phonon energy shifts downward (upward) more significantly in the laterally overgrown regions than in the coherently grown regions. The doping-induced Raman shifts of the E2(high) and E2(low) phonons in the laterally overgrown regions are approximately −0.6 and 0.11 cm−1, respectively, corresponding to the in-plane stress of ∼0.22 GPa.

► Effect of Si doping on epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) of GaN was investigated.
► Raman mapping revealed spatial variations in stress and carrier concentration.
► The carrier concentration varied more significantly in the ELO regions by doping.
► The E2 phonon energy shifted more significantly in the ELO regions by doping.