Structural and Optical Properties of GaN Thin Films Grown on Si (111) by Pulsed Laser Deposition

In this work we present results and analysis concerning the processing and characterization of Gallium Nitride (GaN) thin films (TF) grown on Si (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique (PLD), which were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy (RS). The GaN films showed the hexagonal phase with a preferential orientation in the (100) direction, SEM pictures showed a cauliflower-like morphology.

Room temperature PL studies showed the so called GaN-yellow band, at 2.29 eV, as well as the donor-acceptor (DA) pair luminescent transition around 3.0 eV. At 10 K, phonon replicas, separated by 69 meV, were observed. By RS, the optical mode on 710 cm-1 was observed, corresponding to the longitudinal optical phonon, A1(LO), as reported for this material.