GaN films deposited by DC reactive magnetron sputtering

GaNx films were deposited on glass substrate without substrate heating by dc reactive magnetron sputtering using a gallium (Ga) metal target under various total gas pressures (P-tot = 0.5-5.0Pa) with a mixture of N-2 and Ar gases. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the films revealed that <001> preferred oriented polycrystalline GaNx films were deposited at N-2 100%, where the crystallinity of the films improved with decreasing P-tot. The improvement in the crystallinity of the GaNx films could be due to an increase in the activated nitrogen radicals and also an increase in the kinetic energy of sputtered Ga atoms arriving at the growing film surface.