Eur. Phys. J. B 14, 423-429 (2000)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510051050

Raman spectroscopy of optical phonons as a probe of GaN epitaxial layer structural quality

¹ Department of Physics, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, CO4 3SQ, UK
² Gazi University, Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Physics, 06500 Teknikokullar, Ankara, Turkey
³ Department of Physics, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

Received: 16 July 1999
Published online: 15 April 2000

Abstract

We report on Raman scattering measurements of all Raman-active phonons in wurtzite and zinc blende structure GaN epilayers grown on GaAs (001), GaAs (111)A, and GaAs (111)B oriented substrates by means of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Raman spectra are taken from these epilayers at room temperature and 77 K in backscattering geometry. The measured values of the phonon frequencies are in agreement with other studies and with lattice dynamic calculations of phonon modes in GaN zinc blende and wurtzite structures. We show that crystal quality is much better in samples grown on GaAs (111) substrates than in samples grown on GaAs (001) substrates. The observation of disorder-activated modes gives information about sample quality. Comparison of the spectra from different thickness epilayers shows that the GaN is more highly disordered close to the substrate, particularly for the (001) substrates.