Fabrication of GaN wafers for electronic and optoelectronic devices

The fabrication of GaN wafers from GaN boules (ingots) is described. Gallium nitride boules were grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy and sliced and sized into wafer blanks. The GaN wafer blanks were lapped and polished. The gallium-side of the wafer was finished with a chemical mechanical polish (CMP) process, which removed surface and subsurface damage, yielding GaN wafers ready for homoepitaxial growth. The CMP polished surface produced a root-mean-square (RMS) surface roughness of 0.3 nm on a 10 X 10 mum(2) scan area. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.