Growth of GaN films by reactive sputtering of GaAs

GaN films were deposited by the reactive sputtering of GaAs target using 100% nitrogen as the sputtering and reactive gas at substrate temperatures ranging from 673 to 873 K. The films were studied using XRD and XPS techniques. All films exhibited peaks corresponding to hexagonal GaN with strong dependence of preferred orientation on the substrate temperature. The optical constants of the films were determined from the reflection and transmission spectra. The bandgaps of all films were found to be 3.4 eV which is the bandgap of hexagonal GaN. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved