Patent ID: 8518808

Claim:
A process for annealing a III-nitride semiconductor without decomposing, the process including: capping a III-nitride semiconductor sample with a cap made from a material that is thermodynamically stable at an annealing temperature; positioning the capped III-nitride semiconductor sample inside an enclosure; charging the enclosure with one of an inert gas, nitrogen, ammonia, and mixtures thereof at an applied gas pressure above one atmosphere; and subjecting the capped III-nitride semiconductor sample to a plurality of heating and cooling cycles without removing the sample from the enclosure, each heating and cooling cycle including (1) rapidly heating the sample for a duration of several seconds to a temperature T1 higher than a temperature Ts, Ts being a temperature above which the III-nitride semiconductor sample becomes thermodynamically unstable at the applied gas pressure; and (2) rapidly cooling the sample for a duration of several seconds to a temperature T2, T2 being a temperature below Ts where the sample just becomes thermodynamically stable; wherein during each heating and cooling cycle the sample is exposed to an elevated temperature range between Ts and T1 for a predetermined time period t1 without decomposing, t1 being less than a time t2 at which the sample would start to decompose at the elevated temperature range; and wherein at the end of the plurality of heating and cooling cycles, the sample has been heated to a temperature in the elevated temperature range for a total cumulative time t3 greater than t2, without the sample decomposing.