Molecular Dynamics Study of GaN Thin Films Deposited on Non-polar m-plane of A1N Substrate

The GaN deposited on polar surfaces exhibits significant spontaneous polarization effects, which can cause Quantum Confinement Stark Effect. However, growing on non-polar surfaces can avoid these issues. This study used molecular dynamics method to investigate the epitaxial growth of GaN thin film on non-polar m-plane (1–100) at different temperatures. The variation of the surface morphology and the crystalline structure of simulation system were discussed in detail. The simulation results showed that as the epitaxial temperature rises, the mobility of surface atoms along [0001] direction was significantly higher than that along [11–20] direction, so that the small island structure on the surface were connected along [0001] direction. In addition, the increase in temperature was beneficial for improving the atomic migration ability, which leads to the number of wurtzite atoms increases and the number of amorphous atoms decreases.