The energetics of the GaN MBE reaction: A case study of meta-stable growth

The very large kinetic and thermodynamic barriers present in the GaN system make it ideally suited for studying the fundamental mechanisms involved in synthesizing meta-stable solids. In this paper, the critical factors necessary for the successful growth of GaN thin films under meta-stable conditions are outlined. Experimental results of GaN synthesis by plasma-enhanced Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) are used to illustrate the key steps in the process and to demonstrate the validity of the approach. The issues involved in improving the quality of thin films using meta-stable growth methods are explicitly outlined in order that the method can be successfully applied to other epitaxial systems.