Structural and optical quality of GaN/metal/Si heterostructures fabricated by excimer laser lift-off

Gallium nitride (GaN) thin films grown on sapphire substrates were successfully bonded and transferred onto Si substrates using a Pd-In metallic bond. After bonding, a single 600 mJ/cm(2), 38 ns KrF (248 nm) excimer laser pulse was directed through the transparent sapphire followed by a low-temperature heat treatment to remove the substrate. Channeling-Rutherford backscattering measurements revealed the thickness of the defective interfacial region to be approximately 350 nm. The full width at half maximum, low-temperature (4 K), donor-bound exciton photoluminescence (PL) peak was larger by 25% on the exposed interfacial layer compared to the original GaN surface. Ion milling of the exposed interface to a depth of 400 nm was found to remove the interfacial layer and associated defects. The minimum channeling yield and PL linewidths from the exposed interface were found to be comparable to those obtained from the original GaN surface after ion milling. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)04539-8].