Patent ID: 7427555

Claim:
A method for forming a planar, non-polar gallium nitride (GaN) film on a substrate, comprising: (a) loading a substrate into a reactor; (b) heating the reactor to a growth temperature; (c) reducing the reactor's pressure to a desired deposition pressure, wherein the desired deposition pressure is below atmospheric pressure; (d) initiating a gaseous hydrogen chloride (HCl) flow to a gallium (Ga) source to begin heteroepitaxial growth of the non-polar GaN film directly on the substrate, wherein the gaseous HCl reacts with the Ga to form gallium monochloride (GaCl); (e) transporting the GaCl to the substrate using a carrier gas that includes at least a fraction of hydrogen (H 2 ), wherein the GaCl reacts with ammonia (NH 3 ) at the substrate to form the non-polar GaN film; and (f) after a desired growth time has elapsed, interrupting the gaseous HCl flow, returning the reactor's pressure to atmospheric pressure, and reducing the reactor's temperature to room temperature, wherein the resulting non-polar GaN film has a planar and specular top surface suitable for subsequent device regrowth.