Heteroepitaxial growth of gallium nitride on muscovite mica plates by pulsed laser deposition

We have grown GaN films on mica substrates using pulsed laser deposition for the first time and investigated their structural properties using electron beam and X-ray diffraction. We found that GaN (000-1) grows on mica (001) with an in-plane alignment of [11-20] GaN//[010] mica. Despite the large lattice mismatch between GaN and mica, 6 and 43% along the [100] mica and [010] mica directions, respectively, cubic GaN phase or 30 degrees rotated domains are scarcely observed in the film. This phenomenon can be attributed to the enhanced surface migration of film precursors due to the large atomically flat terraces and the weak Van der Waals bonding on the mica surface. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.