Epitaxial growth of ZnO films on Si substrates using an epitaxial GaN buffer

We report on epitaxial growth of ZnO films on Si(111) substrates using an epitaxial GaN buffer layer. A rf magnetron sputtering process has been developed and utilized in growing epitaxial GaN buffers on Si, and then ZnO films on the GaN-buffered Si substrates. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that both the ZnO and GaN films are of a monocrystalline wurtzite structure with an epitaxial relationship of ZnO[0001]//GaN[0001]//Si[111] along the growth direction and ZnO[11(2) over bar 01]//GaN[11(2) over bar0]//Si[1(1) over bar0] along the in-plane direction. The successful growth of epitaxial ZnO/GaN films on Si demonstrates the feasibility and promise of integrating various functional devices on the same substrate. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.