A surface amorphized layer and a buried disordered structure were created in GaN irradiated using 1.0MeV Au+ ions to fluences of 25 and 70Au+/nm2 at room temperature. Bubbles of N2 gas within both the amorphized and disordered GaN were formed. A gradient profile with a lower N concentration in the amorphized region was observed, which provided direct evidence of N loss by diffusion in the Au+ irradiated GaN. These results were important to understanding the amorphization processes in GaN and may have significant implications for the design and fabrication of GaN-based devices.

Direct Evidence of N Aggregation and Diffusion in Au+ Irradiated GaN. W.Jiang, Y.Zhang, W.J.Weber, J.Lian, R.C.Ewing: Applied Physics Letters, 2006, 89[2], 021903 (3pp)