Valence band discontinuity at a cubic GaN/GaAs heterojunction measured by synchrotron-radiation photoemission spectroscopy

The valence band discontinuity of the n-type cubic GaN/GaAs heterojunction is measured by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. High quality cubic GaN films are grown on GaAs(100) substrates by nitrogen plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, and the valence band discontinuity is determined by a combination of core and valence level spectra. A value of Delta E-v-(1.84+/-0.1) eV across the GaN/GaAs heterojunction is obtained, which means that the discontinuity in the conduction bands at this interface is very small, such that a vertical contact scheme may be realized for GaN/GaAs heterojunctions. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.