Influence of the first preparation steps on the properties of GaN layers grown on 6H-SiC by MBE

The Gan heteroepitaxy on 6H-SiC is affected by the bad morphology of the substrate surface. We performed a hydrogen etching at 1550 degrees C on the 6H-SiC(0001) substrates to obtain atomically flat terraces. An improvement of the structural properties of GaN grown by MBE on such substrates after deposition of a LT-AlN buffer layer is observed. A value of less than 220 arcsec of the FWHM of the XRD rocking curve, showing a reduced screw dislocations density, is comparable with the best results reported until now for thick GaN samples. Photoluminescence showed a structured near band edge emission spectrum with evidence of the A, B and C free exciton recombinations