Growth of semi-insulating GaN layer by controlling size of nucleation sites for SAW device applications

Semi-insulating undoped GaN films were grown based on controlling the size of the nucleation sites through a special two-step growth method: First, 16 nm LT-GaN was annealed at 950 ° with a ramping time of 4 min, then the GaN was grown at this temperature for 1 min. Second, the growth temperature was increased to 1020 ° with a ramping time of 2 min and the GaN layer finally grown at 1020 ° for 40 min. The film grown by this sequence exhibited sheet resistance of up to 109 Ω/sq with mirror-like surface morphology. By slow ramping to 950 ° in the initial phase of growth, smaller grain sizes and higher nuclei densities were formed and the columnar growth mode along the c direction was dominant. The observation of higher resistance in two-step growth is believed due to the increased misorientation of nuclei when the growth proceeds during temperature ramping to 1020°. The fabricated saw filter on semi-insulating GaN exhibited a high velocity of 5342 m/s at center frequencies of 133.57 MHz and an electromechanical coupling coefficient(k²) of about 0.763 %, which was enhanced due to the improvement of surface morphology with high sheet resistance by the two- step ramping technique.