Hexagonal Boron Nitride as an Intermediate Layer for Gallium Nitride Epitaxial Growth in Near-Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes

Materials (Basel). 2023 Nov 17;16(22):7216. doi: 10.3390/ma16227216.

Abstract

We introduce the development of gallium nitride (GaN) layers by employing graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) as intermediary substrates. This study demonstrated the successful growth of GaN with a uniformly smooth surface morphology on h-BN. In order to evaluate the crystallinity of GaN grown on h-BN, a comparison was conducted with GaN grown on a sapphire substrate. Photoluminescence spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction confirmed that the crystallinity of GaN deposited on h-BN was inferior to that of GaN grown on conventional GaN. To validate the practical applicability of the GaN layer grown on h-BN, we subsequently grew an NUV-LED structure and fabricated a device that operated well in optoelectrical performance experiments. Our findings validate the potential usefulness of h-BN to be a substrate in the direct growth of a GaN layer.

Keywords: GaN; graphene; hexagonal boron nitride; near-ultraviolet light-emitting diode.

Grants and funding

This research was carried out with the assistance of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology as “Development of smart electric driving platform by eco-friendly power source in agricultural work environment” (KITECH JA-23-0008). This study received support from the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (NRF-2022R1F1A1074422), as well as from the Korea Institute of Marine Science and Technology Promotion (KIMST), funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea (20200599).