Growth of nonpolar ZnO Films on (100) β-LiGaO2 substrate by molecular beam epitaxy

• Nonpolar m-plane ZnO epilayers were first grown on β-LiGaO2 substrates by PAMBE.
• Dependence of growth characteristics on the growth temperatures was investigated.
• Structural characterization and defect analysis of ZnO films were studied by TEM.
• Strong NBE emission accompany with weak deep level emission were observed in PL.

Nonpolar m-plane (11̄00) ZnO epitaxial films were grown on (100) β-LiGaO2 (LGO) substrates by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). The dependence of growth characteristics on the growth temperatures was investigated. The surface morphologies of ZnO films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Furthermore, the structural properties characterized by high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) indicated that the ZnO epilayers were grown in the nonpolar [11̄00] orientation. Detailed structural characterization and defect analysis of nonpolar ZnO epilayer on β-LiGaO2 substrate were studied by transmission electron microscope (TEM). Optical properties of m-plane ZnO films were investigated by Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence analyses.