Dislocation propagation and defect evolution in films which had been prepared by epitaxial lateral overgrowth were studied by means of transmission electron microscopy. A novel effect was detected which induced the self-organized propagation of pre-existing dislocations in epitaxial lateral overgrown films. This propagation formed dislocations into bundle structures along the stripes of masks which for used for epitaxial lateral overgrowth. This dislocation bundling gave rise to crystallographic tilting in the overgrown region of the mask and led to an overall reduction in the threading dislocation density of the film.

Self-Organized Propagation of Dislocations in GaN Films during Epitaxial Lateral Overgrowth A.Sakai, H.Sunakawa, A.Kimura, A.Usui: Applied Physics Letters, 2000, 76[4], 442-4