Structural investigations were made of inversion domain boundaries in GaN layers, grown onto Si(111) by molecular-beam epitaxy. A comparison of the stacking sequences, between simulated and observed high-resolution electron microscopic images, revealed the existence of 2 different atomic configurations for the inversion domain boundaries. One was the Holt model, and this coexisted with the V model within the same layers. A mechanism was proposed which permitted a switch from one model to the other by interaction with the I1 stacking fault.

A Mechanism for the Multiple Atomic Configurations of Inversion Domain Boundaries in GaN Layers Grown on Si(111). A.M.Sanchez, G.Nouet, P.Ruterana, F.J.Pacheco, S.I.Molina, R.García: Applied Physics Letters, 2001, 79[22], 3588-90