Patent ID: 8318612

Claim:
A method for growing a following layer of a Group III-nitride material over an initial layer of a Group III-nitride material having a surface comprising a plurality of surface emergent defects, which comprises: selectively forming localized regions of an amorphous complex material at the surface of the initial layer of the Group III-nitride material, by occluding a plurality of surface defects with a protective layer of protective material, and thermally treating the initial layer of the Group III-nitride material with the protective layer of protective material thereon, wherein the protective layer prevents decomposition of the surface of the initial layer of the Group III-nitride material during the thermal treatment and prevents exposure of the initial layer of the Group III-nitride material throughout the heat treatment, removing the protective layer after the heat treatment to expose the initial layer of the Group III-nitride material to facilitate growth of the following layer of the Group III-nitride material thereon, and epitaxially laterally overgrowing (“ELO”) the localized regions of the amorphous complex material with the following layer of the Group III-nitride material.