2D/3D growth of GaN by molecular beam epitaxy: towards GaN quantum dots

The first stages of the growth of strained GaN on AlN were studied using reflection high energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy and high resolution electron microscopy. It was shown that GaN grows in the Stranski–Krastanov mode, with three-dimensional islanding occuring after deposition of two monolayers. This 2D/3D transition was found to depend on the growth temperature. At low growth temperature, coalescence of 3D islands rapidly leads to a smooth surface. At high temperature, no smoothing process is observed. It is shown that the size of the 3D islands is controlable and that it is small enough to expect quantum effects.